Destiny
by jamelia116
Summary: In this sequel to "Icheb," the story of the Brunali and Norcadi Borg from the "Children's Collective" continues. Missing scenes from many seventh season episodes. Post-Endgame. Icheb, Mezoti, Seven of Nine, P/T
1. Stardate 54198

**Star Date 54198.2**

 **"Isn't the sea beautiful, today, Mezoti? Let's play Kadis-kot on the beach." Pink and yellow shells and shiny black pebbles. "We should replicate these. We don't want them to disappear when we walk through the arch!" Naomi is laughing. Mezoti smiles at her. Friends forever.**

 **Seven calls out, "Time to regenerate."**

 **"I'm ready. See, I've already cleaned up the Durotta game." Icheb holds out his hand, helps her up the platform steps.**

 **Naomi is sitting on the edge of the platform, combing her red hair. "We have to get ready for the wedding, Mezoti. It's going to start any minute now. Get into your party outfit. We don't want to be late. Everyone will talk. It's a small ship."**

 **There's the captain, talking to Tom and B'Elanna. They're dressed in their dress uniforms. "Nothing fancy," Icheb said; he approves. Everyone is smiling: the captain. Harry. Commander Chakotay. The Doctor is snapping away with his holoimager again. "Say cheese, everyone."**

 **The Ambassador is there, too. He smiles at her. His grin is evil. She doesn't like it. She walks up to him. "I'm Norcadi, and they don't want me."**

 **Skipping around Tom and B'Elanna in the mess hall with Naomi. They're all dressed up. "You're my best friend, Mezoti."**

 **"Of course we're best friends. I'm your only friend who's a girl." Giggling, from both of them. Aimee is too little to be a best friend yet.**

 **"Mezoti! Time to come home to regenerate." Seven's voice echoes in their cargo bay. The walls and ceilings are so far away, even with all the boxes in the way.**

 **"Is it time?" Standing in her alcove dressed in her wedding party outfit. Such a happy day. Happyhappyhappy . . . happy?" But where is Icheb?**

 **"Icheb! Seven! Where are you? I can't find you . . . "**

 ** _:::Regeneration cycle is complete.:::_**

 **"No, not yet. It's not time yet." Mezoti mumbles. Her eyes open. The room is small and dark. Too small to be Borg Central. It's never completely dark in there. The regeneration alcoves spark green waves of power all the time - except when the Haunt was released. When Neelix told them that story. Where is she now? She's here, on Wysanti. Not _Voyager_. Never again on _Voyager_. Never again in Cargo Bay Two. Borg Central.**

 **Mezoti stepped out of her portable regeneration unit. Arebi had fastened it to one wall in her room when she arrived, so she would feel more comfortable in their home. Mazani's home. Arebi's home. Azan and Rebi's home. Now Mezoti's home. That's what he'd told her. This was her home now.**

 **Why didn't she feel at home here?**

 **She sighed. She was totally awake now. Her regeneration cycle was over. The computer voice had announced it, and she could feel the power rushing through what remained of her implants and her cortical array. Her room was so dark; it must still be night. She could lie on the bed in her room and rest until morning, like non-Borg people did, but she didn't want to. She must have rested that way in the past, but even after all this time, she still could not recall what her life had been like before she woke up on the cube with Second, Three and Four of Six, and Six of Six.**

 **And First. She shouldn't forget him, even if he hadn't been strong enough or wise enough to know when Seven was telling him the truth about the Collective. The Collective didn't want them. The Queen had ordered them to terminate themselves, in a message they had been unable to read because they hadn't become fully Borg, and they didn't know Borg alphanumerics well enough to understand it. So they didn't terminate themselves. First _had_ terminated himself, but only because he fought against accepting reality, not because he was obeying the Queen. To the end, he thought she would send someone to help them, but she didn't. He fought. He lost. He died.**

 **The rest of them lived on because they'd believed Seven. They left the Children's Collective and their dying cube to join the _Voyager_ Collective. They'd learned to live as individuals, even if regeneration still was easier if they stood up while doing it. That's the Borg way. Even though they're all individuals now, they still had that little bit of Borg in them and needed to regenerate on a daily basis, although Mezoti didn't need to spend as much time regenerating as Azan and Rebi. They'd been in their maturation chambers longer, so they needed more power to get them through each day.**

 **But Mezoti, born of the Norcadi people and living now with the Wysanti, no longer was so much of a Borg that she needed to regenerate long. She often woke up early like this, after dream images made her remember that other place where she could still be living, if she'd chosen to stay there instead of coming here.**

 **In the darkest hours of the night, she always thought about that choice. She'd made it, so she _was_ here. It was too late to undo it, to choose again. Perhaps in time she would understand why she'd thought coming to Wysanti with Azan and Rebi would be better than staying on _Voyager_ with Seven and Icheb.**

 **When she woke up in the middle of the night, that was hard for her to do.**

 **She stepped out of her alcove, through the doorway of her room, and walked down the corridor. The house was as silent as it always was in the middle of the night. No one else was awake. She wasn't a little baby like Aimee Gilmore. She could take care of herself in most ways now, even if she was only going to be nine years old in a few weeks. After regeneration, she often needed biological nutrition, too. Mezoti went into the kitchen and prepared a shake for herself in the family replicator. Nutritional Supplement Number Five, with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream. Her favorite. And Seven's.**

 **As she sipped her shake, she closed her eyes and pretended she was sitting at a table in the mess hall on _Voyager_. Tonight, she was sitting in a table in front of the transparent aluminum windows. If she concentrated very hard, she could see the stars and nebulae streaming by the ship as it moved through the Delta Quadrant, headed towards the Federation's central world, Earth. She heard Naomi, Icheb, and Seven chatting over events of the day. At times like these, Mezoti always remembered the good things, like visiting the holodeck and going to Fair Haven or for a visit with Trevis and Flotter. She'd remember the aftermath of the play, when the entire "company" went to the mess hall to celebrate, even little Aimee in her miniature Lieutenant Torres uniform. She'd remember Neelix buzzing in the background, calling out to them and asking if they were sure they had enough snacks. "You've got to keep up your strength," he used to say. She missed Neelix fussing over them. She missed everything about _Voyager_.**

 **The dangers of being on a ship no longer seemed so overwhelming. Maybe that was because Mazani and Arebi kept her safe here, but she didn't think it was the whole reason. "I let my fears overwhelm me. Me, Mezoti the Fearless. I let myself be talked into doing what the captain thought was the 'right thing' by Captain Janeway herself - which was really the 'safe thing' - instead of following my destiny and doing the 'brave thing.' I should have trusted in the captain, and Seven, and all the crew of _Voyager_ to keep me safe." Mezoti understood things much better now. While life on a ship can be dangerous, regrets over a mistaken choice might last longer, maybe throughout an entire life. Which is more dangerous? To worry about what will happen on a ship flying through space, or to live with those who know nothing of what a Norcadi child who once had been Borg, who had no idea what she'd experienced in her life and cared less? How did the danger from traveling through the stars compare to her current feelings of isolation and loneliness in what was allegedly her own home?**

 **When she'd finished her shake with chocolate sprinkles and whipped cream, she opened her eyes. The kitchen was dark. She hadn't needed to put on a light to make her middle of the night snack. She could do it automatically, as if she was still a drone who knew how to do things because it had been programmed into her. She liked this kitchen. It was a very nice room. This was a very nice house. She was living with very nice people - well, the adults in the house were nice, anyway. Azan and Rebi were simply Azan and Rebi, her accidental brothers who cared for each other, but still didn't relate to other people very much, even to their biological grandparents. The twins didn't include her when they participated in their activities, in the way she understood brothers usually did. The way Icheb always did.**

 **When she still hadn't stopped crying several days after _Voyager_ left orbit, Mazani and Arebi brought her to the physician who'd received records from _Voyager's_ EMH containing instructions in how to treat patients who were or had been Borg. He'd identified one part, the Emotional Inhibitor chip, which had not formed completely in Mezoti. It was "misfiring," he said, and he removed it, something the Doctor recommended should be done with any implant that was not working properly, if possible. Her cortical node was otherwise intact; she could still overhear the twins when they were speaking subvocally to each other, thinking no one else could hear them. If they were up to mischief, they never seemed to understand why Arebi and Mazani were able to catch them at it almost every time. How smart were they, if they couldn't figure out Mezoti was the one who'd told the grandparents what Azan and Rebi were planning? Hadn't she tattled on them to Seven often enough on _Voyager?_ Really!**

 **She couldn't say she felt much different than she did on _Voyager_ when it came to her feelings, but maybe that problem chip had made the bad sensations worse. Two tears fell down her cheeks, one from each eye. "One for Seven, and one for Icheb. I was afraid I was making a mistake by the time we were leaving the ship, but I was too afraid to disappoint Mazani and Arebi by changing my mind at the last minute after I told them I'd come. Now I'll be sorry I wasn't brave enough to admit I was wrong for the rest of my life."**

 **There was a little light coming through the window into the kitchen now. Soon it would be morning. Mezoti placed her glass in the recycler before going to the doorway and looking out back, to the woods behind the house. Darkness was giving way to the outlines of tree trunks and branches, heavy with fresh new leaves. Some birds began to chirp hesitantly, as if they weren't sure it was quite time to sing yet. Soon a whole chorus would greet the dawn in joyful song. The misty air carried the odors of soil and springtime vegetation to her knife blade of a nose. In moments like these, Mezoti realized, this truly was a beautiful place to live.**

 **So why did she wish she could smell a whiff of machine lubricant in that air, along with the hint of ozone that always wafted out of the big regeneration units on the platform, barely perceptible to most noses, but not to hers? She missed feeling the faint vibration of the life support and propulsion systems beneath her feet.**

 **As lovely as early morning on Wysanti could be, Mezoti would rather be looking out at stacks of empty storage boxes; over containers of raw materials brought into the ship by away teams, to be fabricated into useful items without needing to use much of the power _Voyager's_ crew always had to conserve; and towards the crates on the opposite wall containing the non-perishable foods Neelix always liked to store in his "supplemental pantry" in Cargo Bay Two. **

**Borg Central.**

 **Home.**

=/\=


	2. Stardate 54212

=/\=

 _Personal Log, Cadet Icheb, Academy Distant Learner Program First Year, Stardate 54212.7_

 _The past couple of weeks have been very strange on_ Voyager. _Sometimes it's been too exciting. It was bad enough we had to retrieve the Doctor from that Dinaali hospital, after he was abducted by the Dralian trader Gar. The reason we found out our EMH had been stolen was because of the injury on the holodeck to Ensign Kim. When Tom took Harry to Sickbay, Tom realized something wasn't right. He knows the Doctor better than anyone besides Seven and Lieutenant Torres, since Tom works with him all the time. The replacement Doctor Gar replicated for us when he stole the real EMH was incompetent! We were lucky we got our Doctor back when we did, because of the next strange series of events._

 _A holographic Lieutenant Reginald Barclay was transmitted to_ Voyager _through the datastream. The crew wasn't too happy at first. No one received any messages at all from their families in the Alpha Quadrant in this datastream. Because his program was so large, there wasn't room for any other communications. What made it worse was that the datastream didn't arrive at all last month. I hope we can find out what went wrong with "Reg," because I can't believe he was a true copy of the officer the Doctor met when he was sent to the Alpha Quadrant to treat Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, his creator. I spoke with the Doctor this morning. He told me he held many conversations with Mr. Barclay about the entire crew, including me, but "Reg" seemed to have no idea about who I was. I thought it was, well, very strange._

 _I was a little upset when Mr. Barclay didn't seem to recognize me. I was even more upset when I saw the Barclay hologram was monopolizing the Doctor's mobile emitter. The EMH was caged in Sickbay while "Reg" could visit with everyone in the mess hall, telling jokes and entertaining them with his impressions of the crew. Tom calls it "schmoozing." He_ was _very humorous. His impressions of people's voices, especially the captain's, were almost perfect. But for someone who was sent to us to upgrade our systems so we could fly_ Voyager _through a red giant to get home to the Alpha Quadrant, he wasn't very cooperative._ _Whenever we noticed flaws in his scientific explanations and tried to correct his errors, he ignored us._

 _The Doctor pointed out possible omissions from the anti-radiation inoculations "Reg" said would protect us. Since I've had the opportunity to gain more knowledge of shield theory through my Academy classes with Tuvok, I had concerns, as well. I didn't see how the changes he proposed to our shields would be sufficient to protect us from every type of dangerous radiation from the red giant. He always said the inoculations and the shielding would "work together," but I could not see how two imperfect protective measures could do that efficiently._

 _And then the holographic "Reg" stole an escape pod, kidnapped Seven, and tried to take her through the geodesic fold inside the red giant without any additional protective shielding! We retrieved Seven just in time, or she would have been killed by radiation._

 _When I spoke with Seven after she was rescued from the Barclay hologram, I confessed, "I should have said something to Lieutenant Torres. My calculations indicated the shielding would be insufficient protection."_

 _"Icheb, she noticed the same thing you did and expressed those concerns. So did I, but the Barclay hologram always had an answer for us whenever we questioned the efficacy of his recommendations. Kidnapping me is something the real Lieutenant Barclay would never do. The Doctor met the man in person. He is certain Barclay wouldn't act that way. A hologram should not be able to do what the person on whom he is based would not do. I don't know what went wrong. Something did."_

 _I've been thinking about this a great deal. Maybe some of Mr. Barclay's memories had to be deleted for him to be sent via datastream, and it also altered his ethical subroutines. It may not be wise to send a hologram of a living human person through the datastream and expect it to actually act like it was that person. The data required may be too complicated to fit into the datastream - although the Doctor went there and came back, and his program is very complicated._

 _It is uncomfortable for anyone who has lived as Borg to admit to uncertainty. It is too much like imperfection. I hope we'll find out more from Starfleet in the next datastream about what really happened._

=/\=


	3. A Case of Tarkalean Flu

=/\=

Before Seven boarded the _Delta Flyer II_ to join Harry Kim and the Doctor on an away mission, she'd said to Lieutenant Paris, "While I'm away, please watch over Icheb for me."

"I thought it was pretty amazing. Seven actually said 'please,' Icheb. I think she really _really_ likes you!" Tom told Icheb several days after the mission began.

It _was_ pretty amazing. It made Icheb feel really wonderful. Maybe he should have resented being treated like a little kid by Seven, but actually, he didn't. It was a good feeling to have someone looking out for his safety. "She cares about me, Lieutenant."

"That she does, Cadet. I'm happy for you." Tom's smile was bright, not to mention catching. Icheb was conscious of a silly smile on his face, too.

"How is Commander Tuvok doing? We were scheduled to have a rigorous physical training exercise this afternoon, but he cancelled it. He said he wasn't feeling well."

"Just a touch of Tarkalean Flu. He'll come around in a few days. I've restricted him to his own quarters for the duration."

"Shouldn't he be in Sickbay?"

"Tarkalean Flu is very contagious. I'd rather keep him in his quarters and treat him there, where no one else can be exposed. He's more comfortable in there, too. He has everything he needs to meditate. A meditative Tuvok is a calm Tuvok. And a calm Tuvok will recover more quickly than a . . . non-calm Tuvok." Tom grimaced slightly, and Icheb realized he hadn't really meant that pun. Tuvok wasn't a non-com, he was the second officer on _Voyager_.

"When you see him next, if he's still incapacitated, could you ask him if there's any subject he wants me to research in particular during my independent study time?"

"I'll make asking about that a priority the next time I go in to check on him, Icheb."

Icheb went to Cargo Bay Two and looked up some physical training exercises to do on his own. Once he'd completed a full set of isometric and weight-bearing exercises, he ran through the ship's corridors, working on cardiovascular conditioning. Even a former Borg with enhanced systems benefited from rigorous activity. Icheb enjoyed running, since his mind often wandered into unexpected trains of thought while on a run.

It wasn't until his third circuit of the bottom six decks of the ship that Icheb realized no one had contracted Tarkalean Flu on _Voyager_ since Icheb had arrived on _Voyager_. The incubation period for the illness is less than a month. How was the Vulcan tactical officer exposed to the virus?

=/\=

Since Tuvok was still "under the weather," as Tom put it, Icheb took advantage of his absence by standing near Lieutenant Ayala for part of Alpha shift. Icheb had already noticed that crew members handled certain aspects of the Tactical/Security details a little differently. While the basic protocols were the same for all, one officer would survey images from around the ship one way, while another officer would view them in a different order, or might magnify some locations in order to check out certain details more closely. Still another might check out certain corridors more frequently than others. Tom called this difference in operation based upon individual's choice an officer's "style." This fascinated Icheb, since it was diametrically opposed to the way Borg drones functioned.

Mr. Ayala, Icheb noticed, always kept very close tabs on the engineering decks. He sometimes anticipated Lieutenant Torres would be contacting the officer in command about an issue before she had a chance to call for help, just by observing her staff behaving in an unusual manner. Tom had pointed out that this was something a lot of the Maquis members of the crew did habitually, since they'd been trained by necessity to cover each other's "six." (Tom explained that this meant each other's "back.")

After Icheb had observed Mr. Ayala for a while, he noticed something. According to away team protocols, the _Delta Flyer II_ should have checked in with _Voyager_ over an hour ago. This wasn't really unusual, since at times the shuttle's crew had to complete some task or other before getting the chance to call in. This time, however, it was unusual because the _Flyer_ was supposed to be meeting _Voyager_ later today. Ayala had instituted a sensor sweep of the area where they were expected to meet. Icheb couldn't see any sign of the shuttle from where he stood. Had the shuttle run into a problem?

Icheb glanced up at Ayala. The taciturn Tactical officer nodded his head slightly and looked to the command chair, which Commander Chakotay currently occupied. "Commander, there's no sign of the _Delta Flyer_ anywhere near the rendezvous point."

"Acknowledged," Chakotay responded. "Ensign Lang, still no communication signal from the _Flyer_?"

"No, sir. I've sent out five messages to them in the past hour. Still no response."

"Alert the captain, Ensign Lang. Institute a search."

That was Icheb's cue to stop observing on the bridge. With Seven away, Icheb had to be the one to go to Astrometrics, to take part in the search for the missing _Delta Flyer_. His soon-to-be mother was on that shuttle. He needed to find her.

=/\=

Icheb slipped out of Astrometrics briefly for the ingestion of nutrients. He felt the need for something more substantial than a Nutritional Supplement alone. Since their resident chef had prepared a large batch of banana pancakes for Lieutenant Torres, Icheb accepted Neelix's offer to consume the extras.

The chief engineer was sitting by the window, scarfing down her own stack of pancakes. When Icheb approached her table, Lieutenant Torres, who was still chewing, wordlessly indicated he should join her. Once he'd taken his seat and sampled the pancakes, the lieutenant said, "How are you doing, Icheb? Don't worry, we'll find Seven soon. I have a feeling the away team will have quite a story to tell when they get back. Harry, Seven, the Doctor. That's quite a crew. No telling what those three will get up to!"

"The Doctor will be the one talking the most."

"I'm sure you're right, Icheb. How do you like the pancakes? They're a favorite dish I remember from my childhood. My _abuela_ \- my grandmother - made them for me whenever I visited her on Earth."

"They're delicious. They don't taste much like Neelix's usual meals."

She laughed. "That's because he replicated the bananas, the milk, the eggs, the pancake mix, _and_ the syrup. He enjoys cooking 'flapjacks,' but when I let him try making some from scratch once, they weren't exactly a 'taste of home.'"

"He added Talaxian spices to them?"

"Lots and lots of spices. You're really getting the hang of this place, Icheb."

She mopped up the last piece of her pancakes in the syrup and leaned back to sip the last of her coffee. Icheb recognized the signs of a chief engineer who was about to run back down to Engineering.

"Lieutenant, before you go, I'd like to ask you a question. Why is Tom being so secretive about Tuvok's Tarkalean flu? I didn't think it took a long time to recover from that type of flu."

Lieutenant Torres apparently gulped a mouthful of her coffee a little too quickly. She choked a bit on the liquid as she swallowed it. "Why do you ask?"

"I just wondered. I asked Tom about it yesterday. He told me a Vulcan sometimes exhibits more extreme symptoms than others and requires longer to recover. I looked up the entry on Tarkalean Flu in the database. It didn't say anything about that. When I mentioned this to Tom yesterday afternoon, he said meditation was sometimes more helpful than medications for a Vulcan who's severely ill. I couldn't find out anything about that in the database when I went back to it last night, either. I don't understand."

"Ah, the Doctor has his secrets, and when Tom is being the Doctor's nurse, he does, too. You know the Doctor has a separate database we non-medical people can't access, containing information about synthesizing medicines for specific conditions - things like that. It's one of the things I keep track of when I do my maintenance checkups of his program. That's probably why you didn't find any mention of it in the main database. Tom told me he was setting up a hologram program to help Tuvok meditate. I'm sure that'll help him heal more quickly. You know what they say, 'mind over matter.' I _really_ need to get down to Engineering. Bye."

With that, she hurried off. Icheb was even more curious about what was going on with Tuvok. She'd spoken so quickly, he'd had to concentrate to understand what she was saying. Lieutenant Torres didn't seem to want to talk about the subject with him at all. He didn't think the big secret had anything to do with restricted medical databases. "I'm missing something," Icheb murmured to himself.

When he returned to Astrometrics, he checked over the search pattern he'd instituted for the _Delta Flyer II_ , but there was still no evidence of the missing shuttle. For the moment, there wasn't much more he could do to hurry the search along. He went to an adjacent console and looked up the entry about the Tarkalean flu again. Maybe he'd read it too quickly and skipped the reference about Vulcans with the condition. He read the entry again very carefully, but Icheb still didn't see anything about using meditation to aid recovery when a Vulcan suffered from a severe case of the illness.

Perhaps he was going about this the wrong way. He decided to change the parameters of his search to: Vulcans, meditation, illness. A response popped up quickly.

Once Icheb had finished reading the entry on the _pon farr_ , he knew he didn't need to ask any more questions about Tuvok's current problem. To confirm his suspicion, he accessed (actually hacked into) Tuvok's service record. The date of Tuvok's last "vacation" visit to Vulcan, approved only days before his arrival, occurred seven years, two months, and three days ago, after his captain ordered a sudden diversion of their ship to Vulcan.

Since Tom and B'Elanna's wedding, Icheb's studies of the database concerning single-cell sexual reproduction had become rather intensive. He'd learned enough by now to know this subject was just as sensitive to others as Seven had indicated it was the first time he asked her about it, shortly after he came aboard _Voyager_. Icheb decided it was time for him to drop his inquiry and concentrate on finding the _Delta Flyer_ instead.

=/\=


	4. The Away Team Found

=/\=

 _Personal Log, Cadet Icheb, Star Date: 54242.5_

 _A Lokirrim patrol ship attacked Voyager with an anti-photonic weapon earlier today. The captain ordered the holodecks shut down. Commander Tuvok was in Holodeck Two at the time, participating in the program Lieutenant Paris had developed to provide exercises in meditation which were meant to alleviate his current . . . medical condition. As a result, the commander's medical status continues to be problematic. The captain of the patrol ship wished to investigate Voyager for signs of photonic activity. The captain refused to allow it. She has, however, agreed to allow the Lokirrim patrol ship to accompany Voyager through their territory._

 _We are continuing to search for the Delta Flyer II and our missing away team. While I am confident Seven, Ensign Kim, and the Doctor can manage most situations they encounter, I am concerned because we have been unable to identify the course the Flyer took through Lokirrim space. No trace of their ion trail or warp signature has been identified, even though Commander Tuvok left his . . . sickbed to join the search. If Mr. Paris's diagnosis of Tarkalean Flu was accurate, everyone on the bridge would have been exposed to the virus by now and at risk of contracting the disease. While no one has openly questioned Mr. Paris's diagnosis as far as I know, no one has expressed any alarm at Commander Tuvok's presence on the bridge. From this evidence, I believe that although Commander Tuvok was invested in keeping his current condition a secret from the crew, everyone is aware of it._

 _I now understand why Lieutenant Torres left the mess hall so abruptly when I asked her about Vulcans using meditation when suffering from a severe case of Tarkalean Flu. About three years ago, one of her engineers, Ensign Vorik, also suffered from the same condition. I have been unable to uncover all of the details. Neelix refused to say anything about it, other than that he was part of an away mission which "encountered a lot of problems" thanks to Vorik. Lieutenant Torres and Lieutenant Paris were also team members on that mission. When I tried to speak to Tom about it, he remembered he had to do something so urgently, he could not speak with me any longer. When I said I would ask his wife about it, he became agitated and yelled to me, "No, Icheb! Never, ever mention that mission to B'Elanna! We NEVER talk about it." This mission created major disruptions for our engineering department._

 _Seven has often stated that the most difficult aspect of adapting to individuality involves understanding the motives of our fellow crew members. They can become extremely emotional over incidents which appear trivial. Commander Tuvok's situation isn't trivial - especially to him - but I have observed that people can get very "touchy" about interpersonal relationships. I will try to keep Seven's advice to "stay out of it" whenever I encounter this type of reaction._

 _End personal log entry._

=/\=

 _Personal Log Addendum_

 _Voyager received a message from the Delta Flyer. It was tractored inside a different Lokirrim patrol ship. Seven, the Doctor, and Harry Kim are prisoners. Since the Lokirrim took our away team prisoner, we are no longer cooperating with them. The captain ordered Voyager to fire on the ship accompanying us, damaging its power matrix, permitting Voyager to escape. Because of an insurrection by Lokirrim photonics in this region, anyone in possession of holograms is accused of harboring insurgents. This is the Lokirrim's rationale for taking our away team into custody. Mr. Paris informed me that Seven and Ensign Kim are well, but he did not provide me with the status of our EMH. As soon as Voyager has retrieved the away team and the Delta Flyer, we will depart at maximum warp. Once we are no longer traveling through Lokirrim space, we hope we will be able to avoid any further complications from the photonic's insurgency._

=/\=

In his reading, Icheb had come upon one term for an angry reaction that he did not understand until he asked Tom what it meant. When Seven arrived back on _Voyager_ , he realized he now knew exactly what the term "spitting bullets" looked like. Her anger at the Doctor for "abusing her body" with Captain Ranek and the Lokirrim acting medic Jaryn was intense.

"Why is she so angry, Harry? By protecting the EMH, she was able to keep him from being destroyed by the Lokirrim," Icheb asked, when he had a chance to visit with Harry in the mess hall, after _Voyager_ was safely out of Lokirrim territory. "I don't understand why letting him 'hide out' in her was such a problem."

"Hiding out wasn't the problem, but overindulging in sweets and intoxicating beverages? Flirting with the Lokirrim on board their ship? That's what she's so miffed about!" Harry explained. "Doc finally had a chance to experience all sorts of sensations he'd never had the chance to before, and he really took advantage. Even after she warned him not to, he couldn't help himself. New York cheesecake! Bottles of syntheholic beverages."

Icheb smiled broadly. "Borg implants are incompatible with syntheholic or alcoholic beverages, but I am unaware of any difficulty with the digestion of sugary desserts."

"He consumed an _entire_ cheesecake," Harry laughed.

"I see the difficulty," Icheb noted, laughing out loud, too. "The caloric content in one cheesecake would tend to make one of Seven's outfits fit very tightly."

"They're 'formfitting' as it is," Harry said, laughing even harder. Once their mutual state of merriment came under control, Harry observed, "You're much more fun these days, Icheb."

"Without a cortical node, I no longer have an emotional inhibitor chip. I feel all emotions much more strongly now." Pausing briefly, he added nervously, "I didn't say anything inappropriate just now, did I?"

"Nah," Harry replied. "It's great to see you cut loose a little. Most young guys act like that every now and then. It's actually very nice to see, coming from you."

Relieved, Icheb said, "That's good." After a short pause, he added, "Am I correct in thinking I shouldn't ever mention this conversation to Seven . . . or the Doctor?"

"Not in a million years! Forget I ever told you what happened!"

"Is this a conspiracy, Harry?"

"Absolutely!"

=/\=


	5. Personal Log Entry Stardate 52466

=/\=

 _Personal Log entry, Cadet Icheb, Star date 54266.9_

 _Lieutenant Paris told Seven the whole story of the "Reg" hologram, and she shared it with me. We were right that something had gone wrong with the transmission from the Pathfinder Project. Lieutenant Barclay did try to send a holographic representation of himself to Voyager, but the transmission failed. That was why the datastream never arrived here that first month. Lieutenant Barclay thought his program was too large, so he reduced it in size and sent it again the following month. That never arrived here, either. The "Reg" who came to us had been the original holographic program. It had been stolen and tampered with by Ferengi "businsessmen" who planned to steal Seven's nanoprobes and sell them to the "highest bidder."_

 _Starfleet never did have a plan for Voyager to travel through a geodesic fold inside a red giant star. We were right to question "Reg" about how the changes he told us to make could protect us. If we had tried going through the red giant, the ship would probably arrive in the Alpha Quadrant intact, but every living thing inside the ship would be dead. The Ferengi plan didn't require any of us to be alive. In fact, it would be easier for them if all of us were dead. They could collect Seven's nanoprobes from her corpse. That's why, after the plan fell apart, "Reg" kidnapped Seven and tried to take her through the star in the escape pod. Perhaps it's a good thing "Reg" didn't realize Aimee and I had nanoprobes just like Seven's in our bodies. He might have tried to kidnap both of us, too._

 _Lieutenant Barclay helped us out again, but this time, Tom Paris's father, Admiral Owen Paris, and an officer from the USS Enterprise named Commander Deanna Troi, worked with him. The Doctor met them both when he made his "house call" to Dr. Lewis Zimmerman on Jupiter Station several months ago. When they interrogated an accessory to the crime, she revealed enough for Starfleet to figure out what was happening. The real Lieutenant Barclay impersonated his own hologram, sending the Ferengi a warning that Captain Janeway was going to "get them" if they went through with their plan. They tried to run away, but Starfleet officers caught up with them and arrested them._

 _So an imitation Lieutenant Barclay was imitated by the real Lieutenant Barclay to save everyone on Voyager from death. I haven't been able to assimilate what all of that means yet. Fortunately, Seven told me she's having trouble understanding it all herself._

 _I'm not clear on why the real Barclay hologram was coming to Voyager in the first place. I heard he has a history of something called holographic program addiction, but maybe he just wanted to have a chance to visit with us. A rumor went around the ship he has a pet feline he's named after Neelix. The first time I heard it I thought it was a joke, but Neelix told me it's true. He has a picture of the cat in his quarters. Lieutenant Barclay sent it to him. Neelix showed it to me. Before the datastream started, Lieutenant Barclay had no idea what a Talaxian would look like, but Neelix thinks the cat does have "a Talaxian look to his whiskers." Neelix doesn't mind having a cat for a "namesake." That's the way Neelix is._

 _According to Tom, this is the same Lieutenant Barclay who made the technological breakthrough that led to the development of the datastream, which allows Voyager to maintain contact with the Alpha Quadrant. I guess we owe him the chance to visit us, even if he can't do it in person yet. I hope I'll get the chance to meet him when we arrive in the Alpha Quadrant, whenever that may be. We still expect it to take years for us to get there._

 _End personal log entry._

=/\=


	6. A Letter from Icheb

=/\=

Star date 54274.9

Dear Mezoti,

How are you? I hope you're still doing as well as you were when we spoke over subspace a few weeks ago. It was so good to see you again before we were too far away to communicate by subspace. How are Azan and Rebi? I hope they pay attention to you every now and then. I know they like to speak subvocally most of the time with each other. If they do it when they are with their grandparents, that would be very rude of them. I'm sure you remind them to behave. You were always very good at that.

I have passed my Starfleet Entrance examination with what Tom - Lieutenant Paris - says are "flying colors." I think it has something to do with flag flying, but I'm not sure what that has to do with passing tests. Commander Tuvok has set up a schedule of classes for me. If I were on the campus in San Francisco, I would have more classes every day. Since Commander Tuvok has many other duties as head of Security and Tactical, the captain says he cannot afford to tie up too much of his time with me. He's set up additional courses which I pursue with other crew members or as independent study projects.

My studies with Commander Tuvok include physical training and a course called "Introduction to Starfleet Policies and Prime Directive Issues." He assigned Lieutenant Paris to train me in piloting and astral navigation on the _Delta Flyer II_. Seven supervises my course in "Astrometrics and Stellar Cartography," naturally.

I'm also taking an independent study course called "Essential Literature of Federation Worlds," which I really enjoy. Since I will be living in the Alpha Quadrant, I need to learn about many people who do not have a representative who is part of _Voyager's_ crew. The readings are giving me a better idea about what some of these races are like. Lieutenant Paris set up a few holodeck programs based upon my assignments so that I can see the people in action. I think the most interesting species I have studied so far are the Horta, a silicon-based race who are called "natural miners." A few of them have become Starfleet officers. Their literature is filled with references to the taste, smell, and feel of minerals. In some ways the stories are alien because their lifestyle is so different from that of humanoids. The holodeck Horta Tom programmed for me looks a lot like a giant amoeba made out of rock and metal. They produce acid with their bodies to tunnel through rock. They eat silica as food. Then I read a story about wanting their "future generations," or children, to live long and happy lives, and they seem just like us after all.

While I haven't had any formal courses in fields like engineering, I've just started what Lieutenant Torres calls an "apprenticeship" in her department. Let me tell you how that happened. Lieutenant Torres has been asking (Tom says it was more like begging) Captain Janeway to land _Voyager_ on an uninhabited planet for weeks now. She'd documented several problems with the ship which would be difficult to repair while we traveled in space. A few days ago, the captain found a planet that Lieutenant Torres said was "perfect." I'm not sure the captain is as enthusiastic as our chief engineer, now that we're parked down here. While there are quite a few substances available on this planet that can serve as raw materials for our repairs, Lieutenant Torres keeps finding more problems she says we need to fix. We've already stayed on the planet longer than the original estimate of time she told the captain we'd need, and Captain Janeway is impatient to get underway again. Since there's so much to do, almost everyone on _Voyager_ , not just the engineering staff, has been pressed into service. Tom has been scrubbing conduits and wants to get back to flying. He was really upset when the captain assigned Harry to pilot the _Delta Flyer_ on a mission to look for deuterium.

At first I wasn't asked to do anything in Engineering. Commander Tuvok kept me busy doing security reviews. Yesterday morning, I delivered a tactical report from Commander Tuvok to Lieutenant Torres when the EPS relays shut down power to Engineering. All the lights went out. I recognized the problem from our Borg cube days and took it upon myself to make a repair. I thought the captain and the chief of engineering might become upset with me, since I did this without their permission. Instead, they were glad I "showed initiative." Lieutenant Torres asked the captain to let me continue working with her staff until the repairs to the ship are finished. The captain and Commander Tuvok agreed. The environmental control system really needs work. It is very hot. The captain even made a joke about it, saying it's a shame we can't open the windows for ventilation (which we can't do, of course, since it's a space ship and the windows are sealed).

Seven left on the away mission with Ensign Kim a few days ago. Neelix went with them, but they're not back yet. I hope this one goes better than the mission with Ensign Kim and the Doctor. I think Seven has forgiven the EMH. She sometimes has her dinner in Sickbay and describes what the food tastes like for him to "enjoy vicariously." She says she's doing him a favor, but since he's a hologram and can't eat food, I think she's also getting back at him for taking over her body when he had to hide out from the Lokirrim, who destroy any holograms they meet. She had to restrict her caloric intake for several days after they returned to _Voyager_ because of all the overeating he did when he was in control of her body. Her clothing was too tight until she lost a couple of kilos.(Seven complained about her diet restrictions but wouldn't tell me why she only consumed nutritional supplements for the next week. Ensign Kim told me all about the mission, though, so I already knew the reason.)

This message is already longer than I expected to write. I have to get back to Engineering, but Ensign Lang promised to send the letter to you today. One of the old-style shuttles will be going out of the atmosphere, and she'll be able to bounce the message off the shuttle's communication array so it can get to Wysanti. I don't know how many more messages I will be able to send you after we leave this planet. We're almost out of range of this type of communication, too. I wish the datastream method could be adapted from Voyager to Wysanti. Seven, Lieutenant Torres, and Ensign Kim said they wanted to work on this, but for now, they have no time.

Before I finish, I do have to apologize to you. I wasn't honest about something during our last face-to-face communication. You thought I looked tired from studying too much. I told you I had a medical problem, but I didn't tell you what it was. I'm sad to say that when we meet again in person, I will be unable to speak with you subvocally. Seven's cortical node implant began to fail, and I donated mine to her. She's fine, and so am I. My cortical array works just as well as always, but I lost the communication function when I gave her my cortical node. I had to adapt to the loss, but it doesn't bother me anymore. I have to speak aloud with everyone else on the ship. I just have to speak aloud with Seven now, too. We never did use subvocal communications very often, the way you and I did. So I'm okay. What's important is that she's okay, too.

I'm keeping my own personal log now. If you still keep your diary, we can send each other excerpts once we establish long-range communications again. Naomi told me she would like to exchange some diary entries with you, too, if it becomes possible. I know she misses you very much. We have gone to Fair Haven a few times, and we play Kadis-kot and Durotta, but she tells me it's not the same without you. I know what she means. I miss you, too.

Say hello to Mazani and Arebi, and to the twins, too. Take care of yourself, Mezoti.

Your Borg brother, Icheb

=/\=

 **Stardate 24276.1**

 **When Mezoti received the message from Icheb, she read it over and over. She read his letter out loud after dinner to everyone else, too. Mazani and Arebi told her it was a wonderful letter. The twins didn't have much to say. It was nice that Naomi also sent a letter about what she'd been doing since Mezoti left** ** _Voyager_** **. She wished the letters had made her less homesick for** ** _Voyager_** **, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case. She missed everyone more than ever. If she were still on the ship, she knew Lieutenant Torres would have let her help out in Engineering, too, even if it was just as a "go-fer," the way she did during the repairs to the ship after the last Borg attack. Receiving the messages from Icheb and Naomi brought all of those memories back.**

 **She was a little ashamed that her last visual message to** ** _Voyager_** **had been more wishful thinking on her part than fact. He said he hadn't been honest about why he looked weak. Now that she knew what had happened to him, she felt a little better about his Starfleet Academy studies. She was upset that most of her own communication had been just as dishonest. She had acquaintances at school, but she didn't have any real friends yet.**

 **Sometimes she worked on art projects with Mazani. When Mezoti told her about her clay sculpture of Seven, which she'd left behind on** ** _Voyager_** **, Mazani set up a table for her to do more sculpting. Mezoti had just finished another one of Seven's face, which Mazani said was wonderful. It** ** _did_** **look more like Seven than the one she'd left on _Voyager_ , but she wanted to do another that was an even better likeness. She also needed to do one of Icheb to keep in her room, to remind her of what the missing members of her family looked like.**

 **Mezoti sighed sadly. She enjoyed her walks in the woods with Arebi, especially when they studied their ant colony, but she'd really like to go someplace else for a change. One of the reasons she decided to stay on a planet was so she could study insects. Maybe she should ask Arebi if they might go for a hike on a beach so she could pick up shells to bring home with her - the kind that don't disappear, the way they did when she left the holodeck. Now she wished she'd replicated more than the three she'd saved from the Fair Haven shoreline that she visited with Naomi. Mezoti put them in a little case on a shelf in her room. She looked at them every day, remembering the fun she always had with Naomi. She wished she could find another friend here on Wysanti like Naomi, but so far, no luck.**

 **That night, after dinner, Mezoti asked Arebi about taking a walk on the beach some time.**

 **"Of course we can take a trip to the beach, Mezoti! All you have to do is ask! Mazani, boys, what about going for a picnic at Raveini Shores next week?" The plans were made within minutes, although Azan and Rebi set the actual date. They had to work around the days their team had games. "So, one week from today, weather permitting, we'll go to Reveini. And if the weather there is bad, there are other beaches we can go to instead. This will be fun for all of us, don't you think?"**

 **That night, as she set up her cubicle to begin her regeneration cycle, Mezoti thought, "Mazani and Arebi really are very nice to me. The only thing they aren't are** ** _Voyager_** **people. I need to get over this! I'm here now. I must adapt."**

 **But resolving to adapt and actually doing it are not the same thing, as Mezoti knew well. "I just have to remember to be brave again."**

 **As she settled back into regeneration mode, Mezoti silently supplied the words she always said to herself every night. "Sweet dreams. Don't let the bedbugs bite." She closed her eyes, shutting away her view of her pleasant room on Wysanti, and revisited her memories of Seven, and Icheb, and their cargo bay. Borg Central. Her true home.**

=/\=


	7. Jumping to Conclusions

=/\=

Icheb was working alone in Cargo Bay Two on a diagnostic of the antimatter injectors, snacking on his favorite chips, when Lieutenant Torres came to see him.

"What's that stuff you're eating?"

"Nutritional supplements replicated to meet my metabolic requirements," he answered.

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable doing that sitting down in the mess hall?"

"I prefer to work while I eat. It's a more efficient use of my time."

Lieutenant Torres was very familiar with the concept of Borg efficiency, Icheb knew, but what she said was, "You did a great job today. We're ahead of schedule, thanks to you." Handing him a PADD with the work planned for the morning, she turned to leave. Before she went out the door, however, she paused, turned back to face him, and asked, "Icheb, what do you do for fun?"

When his response was a puzzled look and a questioning, "Fun?"

"Recreation. How do you spend your time when you're off duty?"

"Between my work and my studies I don't have much time for recreation."

"I've learned that you've got to take a break once in a while," she noted. "I've been doing a lot of rock climbing on the Holodeck. Maybe when we're finished tightening all the nuts and bolts, you'd like to join me."

"I do have an interest in geology."

"It's not about the rocks, Icheb. It's about the climbing."

After she left, Icheb thought about it. Climbing rocks might be an interesting way to spend time. It would also be a good way to augment his scientific examinations of the differences between sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock. That could be . . . fun.

=/\=

Events occurred during the next couple of days which made Icheb unsure how much fun climbing rocks with Lieutenant Torres would prove to be. Several times, while working in close quarters in the Jefferies tubes, Icheb and the chief engineer made physical contact. This didn't appear to bother Lieutenant Torres at all. She kept on talking about how she looked forward to their rock climbing excursion, since Lieutenant Paris, her husband, apparently had little interest engaging in this activity with her. Icheb felt somewhat uncomfortable when he learned this. In fact, the physical contact also aroused unexpected sensations in his body. He would have liked to have spoken with Seven about what he was feeling, but she'd left with Ensign Kim on a second away mission almost as soon as they came back from the first one. Seven wasn't available to explain things to him.

Icheb thought the Doctor might be an appropriate source of information about this, since he was one of the few members of the crew who were not spending all of their work time making repairs to the ship. The Doctor's information about romantic attraction caused Icheb to be even more apprehensive about continuing his relationship with Lieutenant Torres. The Doctor spoke of heightened vital sign readings, which seemed to confirm Icheb's impression that Lieutenant Torres's interest in Icheb was not that of a mentor guiding an apprentice - at least, not in relation to engineering principles.

From his studies of Klingon literature, Icheb had learned how competitive Klingons could be, especially when it came to romantic relationships. Thus, when he ran into Lieutenant Paris in the corridor leading to Engineering, it was unnerving to hear the helmsman say, "You've been seeing a lot of my wife lately. Should I be worried?"

When Icheb nervously replied, "Um, the repairs are extensive. It's a lot of work," Tom's response made him feel even more agitated.

"You can't fool me," Tom said seriously. "I heard you two were planning on scaling some cliffs together."

"It was her idea!" Icheb answered.

"Hey, relax!" Tom clasped a friendly hand on Icheb's shoulder. "Spending time on the Holodeck is good for you. But if you really want to have fun, forget climbing. Try my race car program. You get to chase me around the track in an old Earth ground vehicle, at 300 kph. It'll really get your blood pumping!"

In disbelief, Icheb asked the lieutenant, "Are you challenging me to a competition?"

"You think you can take me?" Tom said, the acceptance of a challenge ringing in his voice. "Tomorrow, Holodeck Two, 1900 hours."

Icheb didn't have good control over his emotions whenever he reacted strongly to something. Since he no longer had an emotion inhibitor chip, Icheb was still learning ways of dealing with this sort of thing through biological means. He wondered what his own blood pressure and temperature readings might be, but he resisted the impulse to scan himself. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. From his Klingon readings, Icheb had learned that their competitions of choice generally ran to fighting hand-to-hand with bat'leths, or the occasional fight with one of the many types of knives in the Klingon arsenal of weapons. Tom was human. Perhaps car racing was the way humans did it?

But did humans drive their cars until someone died, the way so many of the clashes with bat'leths seemed to end? Icheb knew he wasn't ready for that.

=/\=

As soon as he entered Engineering, Icheb saw where Lieutenant was working. He approached her and said, "There is something we need to discuss."

"Sure, as soon as you help me finish this diagnostic," the chief engineer said, concentrating more on her diagnostic equipment than on Icheb.

When Icheb told her he wasn't talking about diagnostics, but that the lieutenant's interest in him was "inappropriate," he received her full attention.

"I don't think I understand," she said.

"It's obvious you desire a romantic involvement," Icheb responded.

"Excuse me?"

Icheb explained, "You've made all the customary overtures - finding reasons to spend time with me, complimenting me, inviting me to engage in . . . recreational activities. Your husband even challenged me to a ritual contest."

"What are you talking about?"

"According to my research it's a traditional Klingon practice."

Icheb was not to learn until much later of Lieutenant Torres's general aversion to most Klingon practices, but she kindly said, with a smile, "Look, I'm sorry, but you've got the wrong idea. You seemed a little lonely. I was just trying to be friendly."

"I scanned you."

She reacted to that with a dangerous growl. "You scanned me?"

"In the Jefferies tube. Your blood pressure and neurotransmitter readings indicated a state of arousal."

Lieutenant Torres's reaction was swift. Icheb was sad she was clearly in such denial of her true feelings when she exclaimed, "It was hot! And I've been under a lot of pressure! But I certainly wasn't . . . aroused!" After a pause, she said, more reasonably, "Look, Icheb, I like you. But, aside from the fact that I am a much older woman, I'm married!"

"That's why we have to do the honorable thing. We should stop seeing each other."

Instead of blowing up at him, as he'd seen her do in the past when one of her engineers failed to perform their duties accurately, the lieutenant stopped to think a moment, then smiled slightly and calmly stated, "You're right. As much as it hurts, I'll just have to face the truth."

Icheb, greatly relieved, agreed. "It's for the best." Gently touching her on the arm in farewell, he walked out of the door of Engineering.

An hour later, the captain asked him to perform a new duty. He was assigned to the plasma injector scrubbing team. It wasn't the pleasantest of tasks, but it had to be done. At least this job did not require him to interact with the chief engineer. She could adjust to her disappointment about how things had not worked out between them without the constant reminder of his presence in Engineering.

=/\=

While Icheb was in the mess hall at lunchtime, a group of engineers was laughing in the corner, sneaking a peak at him every few minutes. He heard Ensign Freddie Bristow say, "He thought Lieutenant Torres was coming on to him . . ." and a burst of laughter came right afterwards. He knew they were talking about him. Everyone on the ship was talking about it.

Time to go to Cargo Bay Two with a plate of his nutritional supplement chips and a Nutritional Supplement Number Five shake, with chocolate sprinkles - no whipped cream, though. That was Seven's favorite shake, and Mezoti's. He had to get out of here. Virtually the entire crew has been in and out of Engineering because of all the repair work. If they were laughing, so was everyone else on the ship.

Just then, Lieutenant Paris entered the mess hall and went along the line to choose his meal. When he accepted his plate from Neelix, Icheb saw Tom lean in to exchange words about something with the Talaxian chef. Icheb waited to hear them laughing at his expense, but they must not have been speaking about the mortified former Borg teenager. After nodding his head to Neelix, Tom walked over to Icheb's table. Not desirous of a confrontation with the helmsman, Icheb stood up, preparing to leave the table to Lieutenant Paris, but Tom said, "Please stay, Icheb. I've been wanting to speak with you."

"I should get back to my work . . . "

"Icheb, please. We need to talk over what happened with B'Elanna. I promise, no bat'leth's or other instruments of mutual destruction will be involved. Just talk."

Icheb sat down again. In response to several prompts from Tom, the whole story tumbled out. "She wasn't happy I'd taken scans of her blood pressure, body temperature, and beta endorphin levels. From the elevated levels, I deduced she was romantically attracted to me. When I said we needed to break it off because it was inappropriate, at first it seemed like she was telling me she wasn't attracted to me, but then she agreed we shouldn't see each other anymore. I thought that was that, but from the way all the engineers are laughing at me, I think I must have been mistaken about Lieutenant Torres's intentions."

"B'Elanna admires you, Icheb, and thinks you have amazing potential. She said you were catching on to engineering procedures faster than anyone else she's had the chance to train. From the way you're picking up piloting, I'm not surprised. You're a quick study, Icheb. Everything you take up, you do it so amazingly well. I'm not sure how you do it, frankly. I guess you still have the ability to 'assimilate' learning, even though you're not Borg anymore. B'Elanna may not be romantically inclined towards you, but that might be because I got there first! She praised you because you did good work. She praises all her staff whenever they deserve it, too; and she gets on their backs when they fail to meet her expectations. Ensign Bristow's name isn't on her preferred engineer list right now. I can't go into the details, but maybe young Mr. Bristow has his own reasons for pointing a finger at you. He might want his co-workers to talk about something other than why our chief engineer chewed him out for his less than stellar performance this past week."

"Lieutenant. . . "

"Call me Tom, Icheb. We aren't on duty now. It's lunchtime."

"Tom, how do you know if someone really is interested in you in a romantic way?"

Tom chewed his mouthful of food for a few seconds before swallowing and answering Icheb. "Well, I don't want to lead you astray after what just happened, so understand that you need to be careful not to jump to conclusions if you observe a person doing things like this around you. I've found that if someone is interested in you, they tend to start conversations with you. They may tease you a little, or giggle a lot. They glance over in your direction often. Sometimes they even bat their eyelashes in your direction. But even then, it may not really mean anything. It can be hard to tell. Some people are just natural flirts."

Tom paused again to chew and swallow another mouthful of his casserole before continuing, "You know, when I think back to just before B'Elanna and I started dating, I was the one making excuses to have conversations with _her_. I can't count how many times she turned me down flat when I asked her to have dinner with me. Then something happened to us on one away mission that she doesn't like to talk about much. After that, we spoke honestly about how we really were attracted to each other, but we still took it very slowly for quite a while. We met for meals and went to the holodeck together every now and then, often with a group of friends. Back then, I don't know if I would have received a good reception from her if I told her I'd taken scans of her neurotransmitter readings - and although Kes was still the Doc's primary back up at the time, I _was_ a field medic. I had more reason than you did to do a scan on her!" Tom leaned back in his chair and smiled reminiscently. "B'Elanna was a challenge, but I did manage to find guidance from an impeccable source."

"A source?"

Tom leaned in towards Icheb and said, "There was this Klingon novel she was reading, called _'Women Warriors at the River of Blood.'_ I caught her at it, and I joked with her about how she usually only read technical manuals. Then I hooked the PADD it was on and read it. I decided it could fit the definition of a technical manual - if what you needed technical assistance on was the art of Klingon love! We still laugh over that sometimes. What gave you the idea to scan B'Elanna's vital signs anyway?"

"I went to Doc."

Tom replied, "Of course. Doc. You went to Doc for advice? No _wonder_ you got the wrong idea. If you've got a medical problem you need help with, Doc is your man. When it comes to romance, however, he's the _last_ person you should consult with. When he was 'guiding' Seven in interpersonal relationships and dating, he had her taking detailed notes about how many times B'Elanna and I . . . how often we were . . well, Seven got carried away with her data collection, let's leave it at that. Doc loves to push his photonic nose into everybody's business. Half the time, he gets it wrong, and the other half, he exaggerates things beyond all recognition."

"Seven says he can be too inquisitive."

"She's got that right."

"So, elevated blood pressure, temperature, and beta-endorphin levels aren't associated with sexual arousal?"

"They can be, Icheb. There's something called context, though. If you're taking readings like that when the person you're interested in is sitting in the holographic movie theater; it's a dull movie; but you've got your arm around her and you're about to kiss her, those readings probably do mean what Doc told you they meant. However, if you're sitting in a toasty-hot Jeffries tube, wrestling with spare parts and hydrospanners to fix the ship, you'll probably get the same body temperature and blood pressure readings from exertion. And if you're also feeling good about getting the repairs done because someone competent is helping you do the work, so it's going even better than you expected, those beta-endorphin levels would rise too, you see?"

"I do see now. It's still embarrassing. Ensign Bristow has been telling everyone about it."

"It'll blow over. It always does. Maybe the gossips are a little jealous about how knowledgeable you are and want to take you down a peg. Don't worry about Bristow. He once had a serious crush on B'Elanna, before we started dating, and she shot him down. I'm sure he's jealous how well you were doing! Seriously, if you'd like to go rock climbing or car racing or something else with us, just say so. B'Elanna and I will both go. Maybe we can invite Naomi along, too. She could use some fun, poor kid."

"Yes, she misses Mezoti almost as much as I do."

"When Seven and Harry get back, we'll program a new holodeck adventure for all of us to take part in. You tell me what sort of thing you'd like to do, and we'll set it up."

"I would like that, Tom."

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we both look over at Ensign Bristow at the same time and then snicker behind our hands, like we're laughing at him. He deserves it. Payback, as they say, can be a bitch."

So that's what they did.

=/\=


	8. Another Letter

=/\=

Stardate 54308

Dear Mezoti,

I sent you a letter a while ago from an uninhabited planet. We landed there to complete repairs to _Voyager_ which Lieutenant Torres said were difficult to complete while traveling in space. I also sent you two letters after we left it, but I don't know if you received them. I haven't gotten any messages from you in return. I hope you get this one.

While we were making repairs, Seven and Ensign Kim accompanied Kraylor civilian medical staff on a humanitarian mission, delivering medicines to their people. The Kraylor are apparently engaged in a conflict with another local race, the Annari, who claimed the uninhabited planet we were on as part of their territory. The captain had negotiated a trade with the Annari for items we needed for our repairs. I was not told the full story about what happened, but when Ensign Kim and Seven provided assistance to the Kraylor, the Annari accused Captain Janeway of taking sides against them. We were ordered to leave the planet suddenly, and the Annari did not honor the trade agreement.

Fortunately, we had completed all the repairs Lieutenant Torres felt were critical for the ship's operation before we left. Two of the away teams had come back with sufficient deuterium and other materials to finish what we needed to do and to fuel the ship to travel out of Annari space. We will need to obtain some missing items from someone else.

My studies are going well. I have decided to concentrate on subjects other than engineering for the time being, but Lieutenant Paris says I'm a "natural" when it comes to flying.

Naomi and I went on three holodeck excursions with Lieutenant Paris and Lieutenant Torres recently. Tom programmed several hiking trail programs. Two are in national parks on Earth: the Grand Canyon and Yosemite Valley. Tom is very familiar with both of those trails. The other trail is located on Ktaria, Naomi's father's home planet. The scenery is beautiful in all three programs, although I liked the Yosemite one the best.

While Tom did most of the programming, Ensign Wildman was able to provide details from her memories of hiking the Ktarian Highlands Trail with Naomi's father, from their "courting days," as she put it. She also gave Tom some images that were not available to Tom through his regular research sources. That made our trip more authentic. Ensign Wildman walked with us when we did that one. Ensign Kim did, too. Seven accompanied us on the Yosemite trail program, but she said she would prefer to participate in other sporting activities in the future. She claimed the heels of her hiking boots were not built up enough for comfort.

Many people assume that Seven's high heels are something the Doctor gave her because it is attractive to look at pretty women wearing high heels. Actually, when he removed most of her implants, there is one along each of her Achilles tendons that could not be removed. Seven cannot put her heel down all the way to the floor without pain and her feet are bare. When the heels of her shoes are not elevated enough, her legs and back can hurt her after exercise. We are fortunate those implants never formed in us, Mezoti. I did suggest to Seven she could replicate boots that had the proper heel height, but she said she'd rather play sports such as Velocity with the captain. I thought the hiking programs were aesthetically pleasing, and not much rock climbing was involved in any of them. I've decided not to do any rock climbing on the holodeck for personal reasons I will not get into here.

I guess I'd better close this letter now. I hope we aren't out of range. If that's the problem, I guess I will not receive a response from you this time, either. I hope Seven, Ensign Kim, and Lieutenant Torres can adapt the Pathfinder Project's technology to keep in touch with you someday. Until then, take care of yourself.

Your brother, Icheb

P.S. (This stands for post-script): Naomi sends her best wishes to you, too. She sent you three letters, but she hasn't received an answer to any of them, either. We talk about you often. We miss you very much.

=/\=

 **Stardate 54310**

 **"Did a letter come from Icheb or Naomi today, Mazani?"**

 **"No, Mezoti. No letters today."**

 **Mezoti sat in the chair in the corner of Mazani's studio, where she usually sat when she visited her while she was working. "It's been a long time since I heard from them."**

 **For a few minutes, Mazani continued to work the clay on her table, shaping it into a form she was considering for a bronze casting. When she had prodded the clay into a shape that, for the moment, spoke to her aesthetically, she stood up and washed her hands at the sink near Mezoti's chair. As she was drying her hands, Mazani said quietly, "I spoke to Arebi about it this morning. Mezoti, dear, he believes** ** _Voyager_** **is now out of range for recorded and text messages. He plotted the position of the planet where** ** _Voyager_** **landed. He told me it's in the territory of the Annari. If he's right, they were out of range when they were on the planet's surface. You may have been lucky to get even one message from there. He does not believe Wysanti technology would have been capable of sending your letters to them if they were that far away."**

 **"I see," Mezoti said. She felt like crying. If only her emotional inhibitor chip hadn't gone bad, she wouldn't have had to try so hard to keep a neutral expression on her face.**

 **"Would you like to go out to dinner with Arebi and me to our special café tonight? Azan and Rebi will be visiting friends for their evening meal."**

 **"That would be very nice. I believe I will go to my room now."**

 **"Of course."**

 **Mezoti heard Mazani's sigh when she left. Perhaps she should have remained and spoken to Mazani about her disappointment, but she didn't feel like doing that right now.**

 **Once Mezoti arrived at her room, she put her feelings down in her diary. She always wrote her diary in Federation Standard. She used Federation Stardates for every entry. She wanted to remember the language and keep track of time the Starfleet way, the way** ** _Voyager_** **did it. She needed to keep practicing, so she could remember how to use both, just in case she needed them again, someday.**

=/\=


	9. On the Trail

=/\=

"Tabor, we've been hiking for two hours straight. Where is this 'spectacular view' you've been promising us?" Tom Paris asked.

"We're almost there, Tom," the Bajoran ensign replied. His girlfriend, Crewman Olandra Jor, smiled as he grabbed her by the hand. "How are you kids doing?" Tabor asked.

"Who are you calling a kid, Ensign Tabor?" B'Elanna Torres answered, assuming a mock "superior officer to underling" personal. Naomi and Icheb both laughed, but Icheb had to admit, he was ready for a break.

The group was hiking along the High Bajoran trail, which Tabor had helped Tom create as part of his "Hiking Trail" holodeck program series. Everyone was more than ready to get to the lookout Tabor promised had a "spectacular view." That was where they were supposed to stop for lunch, and Icheb was hungry.

"Here we are," Tabor announced, as the group marched out of a stand of trees. He waved them off the trail onto a short path which served as the approach to a huge rock. After a few quick steps up, the six hikers were able to view the charming scene spread before them.

The broad valley floor was dotted with small farms, patches of woodland, and at least a dozen streams that rushed down the mountains lining both sides of valley, joining the lazy Karliffa River as it meandered from side to side. The cliffs facing them looked like they had been terraced by humanoids, but, in fact, they were a natural feature of the landscape. Every layer was a different color and was composed of a different form of sedimentary rock, each of which had weathered at a different rate. The cliffs looked a little like the cake Neelix had just prepared to commemorate the Delaney sisters' birthday. The juxtaposition of the natural mountainsides with the farmland on the valley floor was very pleasing. It was very different from the way Brunal had looked. Icheb wondered if his home world might once have had peaceful scenes such as this, before the Borg had ruined it all.

After a few minutes, Tabor broke the silence, but the tone of his voice was soft and reverential. "I came here with my family many times when I was very small. Once, when I was about eight years old, I hiked the whole trail with my father and uncle. I didn't know at the time that what they were really doing was surveying an escape route for the Resistance to use to get to a cavern hideout." He pointed at a branch of the main trail just ahead. "That's where the cut off was. When you go down that path towards the creek, there's a rocky section that hides your footprints. Once you turned off towards the hideout, the stony way made it hard for the Cardassians to trace you. The Resistance kept the cavern stocked with supplies." Tabor sighed sadly. "My uncle was caught about a year later, and my whole family was sent to Crell Moset's hospital afterwards. My grandfather died there."

Icheb remembered reading something about this hospital in his study of _Voyager's_ logs. He looked past Tabor to B'Elanna, who was getting a little agitated. Tom put his arm around her shoulders, and she began to calm down a bit. To distract Naomi from Tom and B'Elanna's problem, whatever it was, Icheb asked Tabor, "Does this valley look the same now?"

"I've been in the Delta Quadrant for over six years now, Icheb. And I was in the Maquis for more than two years before that, so I haven't been here in years. This is the way it looked the last time I was here, though, and in his last datastream letter, my brother said this valley was still green and beautiful. The Cardassians never ruined this one, like they did so many others."

"Ensign Tabor, does seeing it now bring back bad memories because of what happened to your family afterwards?" Naomi asked.

"The memories are sad, but this is still a beautiful spot. I actually programmed this lookout section about three years ago, for my personal use. Every time I come here, I pray to the Prophets to safeguard the soul of my grandfather. As soon as Tom told me about his Hiking Trails project, I immediately thought of including this trail as a tribute to Grandfather. My memories _are_ bittersweet, Naomi, but don't you think maybe that Ktarian trail is a little like that for your mother? She volunteered to help program that one. She hiked it with your dad long before you were born."

"She did say something like that to me after we walked it. It's amazing to think this whole scene fits inside a small part of _Voyager_ , isn't it? It looks like a real place, not a holographic program. Fair Haven is like that, too, Lieutenant Paris. Especially the part near the shoreline."

"Thanks, Naomi. As often as I come in here to set up new programs, it still amazes me what holodeck technology can do."

"Tabor, would you like to spend a few moments in prayer before we walk on?" Olandra asked.

"If all of you don't mind the delay . . ."

"No problem," Tom said. "It's time for lunch."

Tabor and Jor kneeled together on the hard rock at the lookout's crest and held hands. Very softly, Tabor chanted some words in Bajoran. Icheb didn't know if Crewman Jor understood Tabor's Bajoran words, but she knelt next to her boyfriend quietly until he was finished. The other four hikers stepped down the path a short way, where several boulders created ample seating. They broke out the food, but they didn't start to eat until the couple finished their prayers and joined them.

The group had just cleaned up the remnats of their meal was about to continue onward when they were interrupted by a comm call.

 _:::Lieutenant Paris,:::_ Commander Chakotay's disembodied voice said. _:::Sorry to interrupt you on your day off, but you're needed on the bridge. We've intercepted a distress call, and the captain wants you at the helm during our approach.:::_

"Understood," Tom replied. "I'll be right there." Turning to the others as he signed off, Tom said, "We're about three quarters of the way along the trail, if you want to finish today."

"Not if there's a distress call. Tabor, Jor, we'd better get to Engineering. Sorry about this, Naomi. Icheb." The Chief Engineer of _Voyager_ was the person addressing them now.

"That's okay, Lieutenant Torres. I should go to my quarters so my mom knows where I am. We can finish the program another day."

"I'll walk with you, Naomi," Icheb said, as Lieutenant Paris called for the arch to exit the holodeck. It was strange, but as soon as they received that call, they'd all reverted to Lieutenant Paris, Lieutenant Torres, Ensign Tabor, Crewman Jor, Cadet Icheb - and future cadet/captain's assistant Naomi.

Once they were out of the holodeck, Lieutenant Paris gave his wife a quick kiss good-bye before striding quickly down the corridor. The engineers moved quickly away in the opposite direction, leaving the two young people behind.

"Don't you have a duty station to go to, Icheb?" Naomi asked.

"No, not really. I will go to Astrometrics if Seven wants my help, but otherwise, I'm supposed to follow my normal schedule for the day."

". . . which has been disrupted by the distress call," Naomi sighed. "You don't have to walk with me to my quarters. I can get there by myself."

"Of course, but I promised to go with you, so I will."

=/\=


	10. Donik

=/\=

Since they'd left the holodeck program early, Icheb had unscheduled time available. While he could go to Astrometrics to be with Seven, he knew she would call him if, or more likely, when, she needed his help. He decided to go to the Sickbay lab to work on his latest genetic program until she contacted him. That was the next thing on his schedule, and it wouldn't hurt that he'd have a little more time to pursue it. He'd been trying to figure out how to produce a hypospray which would give everyone on _Voyager_ a form of protection against becoming assimilated. If that didn't work, he had another idea that would essentially create the genetic modification his parents had put into Icheb into anyone who didn't mind becoming a "Typhoid Mary" to the Borg. If _Voyager_ was attacked and the crew assimilated, the pathogen might be distributed widely in the quadrant. If many cubes met the fate of the one where _Voyager_ found them, the Borg would be weakened substantially, particularly if he could find a way to send it from cube to cube via each vessel's Central Plexus.

Icheb had also decided it would be a good idea to obtain training as one of the EMH's backup field medics, like Tom Paris. If he stayed nearby, he could help the Doctor if he needed to move injured people around in Sickbay. It wouldn't hurt to practice using the medical tricorder in triage situations, either.

After changing into his cadet uniform, Icheb stopped by Sickbay. "My holodeck excursion ended early, Doctor. I'll be in the lab if you need me." The EMH waved at Icheb to acknowledge his status report, and Icheb went to the lab to work on his independent study project.

A little later, Icheb heard someone arrive in Sickbay. He heard the Doctor shouting, and then the voices of the captain and the commander. Icheb was very curious, but he didn't think the command team would need his help. They'd undoubtedly summoned a security team to help out. Things settled down for a while, but later, Icheb heard many strange, angry voices speaking roughly, accusing someone named "Donik" of being a coward, After he heard the word "Hirogen," Icheb realized who these new arrivals must be. Icheb closed up the console he was working on and waited in the lab, in case the Doctor called for his assistance.

The EMH never did call Icheb in, but once he heard the Hirogen Hunters stomping out, he slipped into Sickbay. A being with the tough, reptilian features of the Hirogen, which Icheb had viewed in Voyager's database, was lying on a biobed. Icheb didn't see the Doctor, but Tom Paris was there.

"Mr. Paris?" Icheb called out. "May I be of any assistance?"

Tom waved him in and indicated Icheb should approach him. In a low tone of voice, Tom said, "We had to shut down the Doctor. Donik was freaking out because the holograms in a training simulation he was controlling overpowered forty-three Hirogen Hunters. The only reason he's alive is because he masked his life signs and hid. He thought all of us were holograms who had captured him. The captain and commander explained the Doc was the only hologram, but they had to shut him down to get anything out of Donik. That's why I'm still here." Tom leaned in and whispered, "Donik doesn't know I've been in touch with the Doc. He's on one of the holodecks, monitoring what I'm doing and making suggestions on this monitor."

He pointed to the display in front of him, and Icheb saw the Doctor's face, with a mute sign in the corner of the screen. The EMH's mouth moved, but what he said appeared in caption form on the display below his face. "We don't want Donik to know I'm still involved with his treatment. Mr. Paris, why don't you ask Icheb to speak with our patient? Maybe he can get more out of him than we've learned so far."

"Does this have anything to do with the Lokirrim holograms' rebellion?" Icheb asked.

"We're not sure yet," Tom answered. "Maybe you can find out. Donik's a young guy, frightened out of his wits by what happened to all of the Hunters. He was attacked and injured himself before he managed to hide out. He might relate to you better than he has to the rest of us."

"Of course. I'd like to help." Icheb nodded to the Doctor's image and to Tom. Both expressed their thanks, from the Doctor in a caption displayed on the screen, and verbally, from Tom.

When Icheb and Tom got close to Donik, he saw this Hirogen was much smaller than Icheb expected from the official log entries he'd viewed. Icheb was noticeably taller. When Icheb tried to start a conversation with him, the young Hirogen did not respond at first. Icheb was about to leave his side when Donik said, "I listened to my Alpha and followed his orders. What else was I supposed to do?"

Since he didn't know all that had happened, Icheb wasn't certain how to answer him immediately, but then he realized he could respond. Orders are orders. "We're supposed to follow orders in Starfleet, too, but there are times when we must speak up and state our objections. Some of our crew have told me they wish they'd refused to go along with some of the actions their commanding officers insisted they take, because they knew they were wrong, but their commanding officers threatened to kill them if they didn't."

Icheb stopped speaking, since Donik was becoming agitated by what Icheb was saying. He realized he needed to clarify the _Equinox_ Five's history better or Donik would be even less likely to cooperate. Besides, what Icheb had just said was misleading because it was incomplete. "Donik, this didn't happen on _Voyager_. The crew mates I'm talking about served on another ship before Captain Janeway rescued them and brought them on board . She would never give them the kind of orders those other commanders did."

Donik relaxed a little and then admitted, "I don't know if my Alpha would have killed me if I didn't follow his orders. He might have. I knew what he wanted me to do wasn't wise. He ordered me to make the holograms even more powerful than they already were."

"Photonic beings, you mean? Like our Doctor?"

"Yes." Donik looked around him, but the EMH was still absent from Sickbay. Tom's body hid the display showing the Doctor's face. "They killed all the Hunters in the simulation! That wouldn't have happened if I hadn't weakened the safeties, which my Alpha ordered me to do. And then the holograms took control and shut them down all the way. I couldn't stop them from killing everyone, and I couldn't stop them from escaping. Once I was hurt, all I could do was hide myself from them, or they would have murdered me, too. The other Alpha and Beta are angry with me. They blame me for what happened."

Icheb nodded. "I followed First's orders even after I realized he didn't know everything he claimed to about the systems on our Borg cube. We killed someone needlessly as a result."

"You were Borg?"

"I used to be. I still have some implants, but I'm not linked to the Borg Collective now."

"Even Hirogen Hunters avoid confrontations with the Borg."

"Donik, aren't all Hirogens Hunters?"

"I'm not. I'd probably die very quickly if I tried to be one. When I was growing up, I was always more interested in engineering and communication systems, and my mother encouraged me to study those subjects. She wanted me to find a way to live without the Hunt. At one time, the Hirogen had a very rich culture, with scientists who created marvelous inventions. She taught me all about that. Few Hirogen males seem interested in doing anything like that anymore. If it were not for the females, like my mother, I think the Hirogen might have died out by now. I hardly ever saw my father, and then he was killed when a hunt didn't go the way his Alpha expected."

"I don't think we've ever met any female Hirogen, unless they look like the males."

"No, I'm sure you've never met them. They live far from here. Their skin is much smoother than mine. Hunters come back and present the females they like with body parts. Most of the females I know, like my mother and sister, think those 'trophies' are disgusting, but the Hunters don't seem to notice - or care. Mother heard about this new holographic technology and told me to look into it, to see if it would be something I could do instead of the Hunt. Killing other beings for trophies has never appealed to me."

"So you learned holographic programming?"

"Yes, so I could service the Hunter training centers. I really liked my job at first, but the Hunters wanted to kill the same holograms over and over again. They insisted I make them more and more cunning, and suffer pain when they were injured. For the 'challenge.' After a while, something happened to a lot of them. They began to think for themselves and came up with ways of attacking that I never programmed into them. And now this. Forty-three Hunters are dead, and they say it's my fault."

Seven told Icheb about a Hirogen Hunter who helped Tuvok and Seven survive in a Tsunkatse arena. This Hirogen Not-a-Hunter might be more like that one. Seven said he was "admirable." After speaking with Donik, Icheb decided the Hirogen are just like everyone else. Some are brutal, others fools, and some are decent people, like Donik, who are victims of the way their culture has become warped over the years - perhaps centuries. Icheb hadn't been in charge of his own fate, either, because of what his parents did to him. He understood what it was like to feel at fault for the deaths of others.

"When I was on the Borg cube, hundreds of drones lost their lives because of me. I still sometimes feel it was my fault, but Seven - who used to be Borg and will be my adoptive mother soon - always says it wasn't. My parents modified my genetic code so that when I was assimilated, a pathogen would be released to kill Borg drones. Then they set me loose in a small ship in the path of a cube so I would be assimilated. And it worked. All the adult drones died. A few neonatal drones like me were born too early, before we knew what we needed to know to survive. I followed the orders of First - my 'Alpha.' We killed an alien when we tried to assimilate him because we didn't have the knowledge we needed to do it right. If I'd really been Borg, I wouldn't care about what we did, but I do feel badly about it."

Donik sighed. "I followed orders, but I'm still at fault. I didn't do it right. The holograms malfunctioned because of the way I reprogrammed them."

"If you could have seen into the future, you would have done it differently. Now all you can do is try to help keep it from happening again."

"I'm not sure how I can do that."

"You can help Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay if they ask you to."

Donik considered this for a few seconds. "You say they can be trusted? Your captain gave the Hirogen this technology in the first place."

Tom approached the biobed then. "Pardon me for overhearing, Donik. Let me explain something. Captain Janeway traded the technology to the Hirogen in exchange for our lives. Several Hirogen Hunter groups had taken over _Voyager_ , and we were fighting to free ourselves from them. The two sides had reached a stalemate. Cataahr, the Alpha Hirogen, wanted to use holographic technology to _replace_ the Hunt, not to be used as a training tool. From what the captain told us about him after the fighting was all over, I don't think he'd have approved of what your Alpha ordered you to do to the holograms, either. But he was murdered by his Beta, who didn't understand that Cataahr wanted what you say your mother wanted. Cataahr thought if your people stayed in one place, they could rebuild the Hirogen culture."

"I see. You don't use holograms in training scenarios then?"

"We do, but we don't make them suffer pain or anything like that. They're three dimensional images of people. It sounds like what your Alpha told you to do turned your holograms _into_ a people, if they suffered and then could think of ways to become even more than what you programmed. Our Doctor, the hologram who was treating you, has become a lot like the holograms you created, but he's also a physician who is programmed to 'Do No Harm.' He's the only hologram here who is completely aware of what he is. He's surpassed his original programming by learning skills on his own, but we needed him to do that. Our entire organic medical staff was killed when _Voyager_ was dragged here. The Doc still is the only true professional physician we have on _Voyager_."

"He won't hurt me because of what I did to other holograms?"

Mr. Paris replied, "Donik, if he ever hurts you when he's treating you, it's because it's unavoidable, and it's the only way you'll get better. He'd never deliberately inflict pain or suffering on any of his patients. Won't you let me bring him here to finish treating you? My main job is steering this ship through space, and I have a feeling they'll be needing me for that job sooner, rather than later."

Icheb added, "I'll stay with you, Donik, until our Doctor has finished what he needs to do for you. I've been wanting to find out more about being a field medic anyway. This will be an opportunity for me to observe what the Doctor does to treat injuries like yours."

Donik considered this for a short while, but then he gave permission for the EMH to be reactivated. As soon as he took form in Sickbay, the Doctor approached his patient with an encouraging smile. "Thank you for trusting me, Donik. I assure you, Mr. Paris and Mr. Icheb are telling you the truth. My mission is to heal. Now, let's release Mr. Paris to do a job he is truly qualified for. To the bridge, Mr. Paris!"

When Icheb and Tom both laughed at the imperious way the Doctor said this, Donik relaxed onto the biobed. Mr. Paris left Sickbay to return to his primary job as Lieutenant Paris, Chief Helmsman of _Voyager_ , while the EMH used his evaluative tools - painlessly - to finish treating the young Hirogen. Icheb remained with Donik, diverting him by asking him to tell him more about his mother and what it was like to grow up Hirogen, with the expectation of having to become a Hunter, whether he wanted to become one or not.

=/\=

Once his treatment was over, Donik still needed to rest in Sickbay to completely heal from his injuries. Icheb was due to report to Astrometrics, and Donik agreed he no longer needed to stay with him in Sickbay. He thanked Icheb for staying with him and acknowledged, "You were right about your EMH."

Icheb was still working with Seven in Astrometrics when a decoy bomb, set up by the renegade holograms, went off and destroyed the Hirogen vessel that attacked it, thinking it was the ship the holograms had commandeered. Seven sent Icheb to Sickbay to help with the care of the injured Hirogen, who had been transported to _Voyager_ before their ship exploded. He arrived just after the hologram ship abducted the Doctor's program.

With the Doctor gone, a decision was made to transfer all the wounded Hirogen to the mess hall, to keep them all in one place. Most of their injuries were minor. Icheb stayed in the mess hall with Tom, helping with triage. Icheb looked on while the captain and the Beta-Hirogen had a confrontation. He was gratified to hear Donik's offer to help the captain find the hologram ship. After the captain and Donik left the mess hall, he did his best to help their Hirogen "guests." Icheb decided that while he liked Donik, he really disliked the Beta. After what Seven had told him about Turanj, the Beta from the World War II simulation, Icheb wondered if one of the requirements of being a Beta was to be belligerent and foolish enough to prove he had what it took to be a single-minded Alpha.

Icheb was relieved when he heard the EMH was back on board. That all changed when the Doctor never showed up in the mess hall to help Tom as ordered by the captain and had, in fact, left the ship again of his own volition. Right after that, the ship shook, and only emergency power was available in the mess hall. Tom sent Icheb down to Engineering to help repair whatever had been done to the ship. It was only after Icheb arrived there that he found out what had happened. The holograms used a feedback surge to counter _Voyager's_ attempt to deactivate them. The surge damaged _Voyager's_ systems, leaving the ship adrift in space. The hologram's vessel got away. The EMH was with them, and so was Lieutenant Torres. The holograms had kidnapped her from Engineering.

=/\=

Seven assigned Icheb to work on repairs with Ensign Bristow, the last engineer Icheb would have chosen as a partner. He'd never told Seven about the way the ensign mocked him when Icheb had mistaken Lieutenant Torres's friendliness for romantic intentions. He wasn't about to say anything about it now, in such a critical situation. Fortunately, Ensign Bristow seemed even more uncomfortable being with Icheb, and they proceeded to work together without either of them complaining about being forced to work together. They didn't have the time to waste, since Seven and Lieutenant Carey were hard pressed to fix _Voyager's_ systems as quickly as possible. Icheb overheard Seven telling the captain that the work was taking longer than it would if Lieutenant Torres had been available to give directions to her staff.

Once power was restored and the ship's propulsion system was back on line, Seven ordered Icheb to go to Astrometrics to provide answers if the captain asked for them, as long as Seven had to remain in Engineering with Lieutenant Carey to finish "refinements" to the repairs. As Icheb turned to go, Ensign Bristow extended his hand to Icheb. "Thanks for the help, Cadet. When Lieutenant Torres gets back, she'll be happy to hear you helped us out."

"You're welcome, Ensign. It was . . . good to work with you."

Bristow smiled and tilted his head. That was as much of an apology as Icheb was ever likely to get, but under the circumstances, it was enough.

=/\=


	11. The Photonic's Sanctuary

=/\=

 _Stardate 54338.2 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Lieutenant Torres is back safe on board the ship. Many times, I must wait a long time to find out what happened during an action, and then, only through the ship's "grapevine," as Naomi calls it. This time, I learned about what happened directly from Lieutenant Torres. She explained how the leader of the holograms, Iden, became dangerous to everyone, not just to the Hirogen, because he developed what our EMH diagnosed as megalomania. The Doctor finally had to kill Iden in order to save the few remaining Hirogen from being murdered by him. This must have been very difficult for our Doctor, because of his Hippocratic Oath, but in this case, he had to do it or see others die by Iden's hand._

 _Lieutenant Torres told me that most of the holograms she'd met on the holoemitters-equipped ship didn't seem really bad to her. They were being misled by Iden. The Doctor was led completely astray by him, too. She admitted Iden sounded reasonable for a while, when he wanted Lieutenant Torres to help them set up a field generator to permit the holograms to live on a Y-class, or demon-type planet. Later, they learned the Iden hologram lied to everyone, especially our EMH, about what his true intentions were. With Iden gone, and once the surviving holograms are reprogrammed, Lieutenant Torres believes they will not be dangerous to "organics" like us._

 _Lieutenant Torres also told me her opinions about Cardassians were altered when she worked with one of the holograms. Kejal, their engineer, was formed in the image of a Cardassian. Lieutenant Torres doesn't know if Kejal is more representative of what Cardassians are really like than what she thought from her experiences as a member of the Maquis. Her previous contacts with Cardassians were always with warriors trying to kill her. The only other Cardassian she'd spent any time with before meeting this hologram was Seska, and she was masquerading as a Bajoran engineer. "She was a spy. The engineer part of her was just a cover," Lieutenant Torres told me. "I can't judge all Cardassian engineers by Seska. It's possible more of them might be like Kejal. I doubt I'll ever find out for sure."_

 _We've now left the Y-class planet Iden called Ha'dara, the "Home of Light," behind us. The holograms hoped they would be allowed to live in peace there, since the atmosphere on Ha'dara is poisonous to almost all non-holographic forms of life, but the Hirogen know its location. They could easily return with an overwhelming force and destroy them after Voyager resumes its journey to the Alpha Quadrant._

 _The Hirogen technician Donik has chosen to remain with them on their holoemitters-equipped ship. He wants to work with Kejal, the only hologram who is currently active. Kejal is now their leader, since Iden's program was unrecoverable, according to Lieutenant Torres. Donik wishes to undo the damage he did by blindly following the orders of his Alpha. It led to the deaths of many other Hirogen - including this Alpha._

 _I can relate. I wish to dedicate my Starfleet career to those who lost their lives on the Borg cube I came from, because of the pathogen which lingers inside me. I understand what happened isn't my fault. My parents put it into me without my knowledge or consent. Since the drones on the cube had already lost their individuality, their lives had also been taken away. I do sometimes wonder if any of the drones on my cube ever went to visit Unimatrix Zero while they were regenerating. Maybe they would have become part of the Resistance, too, if things had gone differently. Or perhaps, if they had been rescued by Voyager, the way our Children's Collective was, they could have learned to become individuals in the way Seven has. I know I'll never find that out either._

 _After all the stories I'd heard about the bloodthirsty Hirogen, it was good to meet one who was nothing like I'd heard about. It reminds me I must always judge all individuals on their own merits and not to think all of them are alike, just because they belong to the same species._

 _I must admit, when Lieutenant Torres told me Iden's program was "unrecoverable," I perceived a bit of prevarication in her response. It would not surprise me to learn that Kejal, Donik, and Lieutenant Torres had agreed to delete his program instead, rather than try to repair it. They may have felt his megalomania was too deeply ingrained in it for them to repair._

 _Only five Hirogen hunters survived Iden's massacre on Ha'dara. The Beta insisted they would not leave the ship and its database behind, since it was "Hirogen property." No one doubted the Beta really wanted to exterminate the holograms (and, I think, he would have been pleased to destroy Donik as well), but Neelix asked him a critical question. What story did the Beta want to be remembered by? Would he be remembered as the Beta who only survived because his life had been saved by a hologram? Or would it be the tale of the Beta who heroically took over the hunt and destroyed the holograms and their ship? He could be "a legend." Neelix didn't say anything about the first scenario being a "cautionary tale," but the Beta was smart enough to know that's what it would have been._

 _I'm also sure that if the Hirogen had wanted to continue the hunt, the captain would have been forced to reactivate the holograms so they could defend themselves and Donik. From what Lieutenant Torres and the Doctor told me about the Starfleet hologram called Weiss, there's no guarantee the Hirogen would have beaten them. Only five Hirogen were left, and all of them might have died if Weiss had the chance to attack them. By leaving the holograms alone, the Beta and the other four survivors could maintain the fiction of their heroism in overcoming the holograms._

 _The Beta picked the legend. It's a lie, of course, but as Tom told me afterwards, history is recorded by the victors. If there's no one around to contradict it, that's the way it remains. The holograms don't want to fight anyone, Kejal insists. They just want to be left alone to discover what sort of people they really are. They have their own history to create. They will preserve the real story, but they don't mind if the Hirogen maintain the fiction of their victory._

 _End personal log entry_

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate 54347.2 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _We are in orbit over a planet Seven and I identified, similar in some ways to Ha'dara, on which the holograms will settle. One of the advantages of this one is that it isn't a Class-Y, where Donik would be unable to survive on the surface. It's a Class-H. There's a barely breathable, very dry atmosphere, and no surface water at all. Donik said he has the technology to be able to extract a sufficient supply of water from the rocks for his personal use. The holograms have no need of any. While the gravity is a little greater than most humanoids would find comfortable, Donik's Hirogen musculature can handle it easily._

 _We identified a system of caverns, very extensive, with a space large enough in which to hide their ship. Our crew is helping them excavate an entrance so they can land the vessel inside the caves. Dense magnesite deposits overlay the system. That substance blocks scanner technology. If we hadn't detected a small passageway leading to the outside, the caverns would never have been discovered. Once the ship is inside, Donik and Kejal plan to use masking technology to hide the entrance from view._

 _After that, the entire cave system will be fitted with holoemitters, and all the holograms can be reactivated. A few may need reprogramming, but Kejal believes most will understand that organics are NOT all bad, once they learn of the assistance the Voyager crew gave them to create their sanctuary. With the abundance of minerals found on this planet to construct more holoemitters and field generators, Kejal and Donik believe they will be able to build an extensive underground city, well-hidden from the prying eyes of "organics" like us._

 _Kejal doesn't know what the planet will be called once the others are reactivated. While the name Ha'dara, or "home of light" is very appropriate for a world settled by photonics, she's not sure she would like this one to be called by the name Iden had picked. We'll be on our way tomorrow. I guess we will never know what to call it, other than the "Hologram Planet." Maybe that's the right name, since it's a Class-H world._

 _When Donik visited Sickbay to complete scans of the Doctor's mobile emitter, I went to say hello to him. He told me he hopes to find a way to reproduce the mobile emitter technology. He doesn't think he'll be able to create anything as small as the Doctor's, but he'd like to build something that will allow the holograms to visit their outer world without building so many field generators, organics will be able to detect a holographic presence on the planet. He also took readings of Seven's and my Borg technology. Under a great deal of pressure from Seven and Ensign Kim, the Doctor related the story of how he eluded detection by the Lokirrim when he "possessed" Seven's body. Donik became excited by the prospect of building "housing" which will allow the holograms to inhabit the electronic system of a robot. That would hide their true nature even more, and would also provide the ability to move around in areas outside the generator's range._

 _When Tom called his wife to tell her about this, she came to Sickbay and provided information about several robotic systems she's worked with in the past. "Just don't turn them into talking bombs," she said. Tom laughed when she said it, but the Doctor and Ensign Kim were mortified. I think I'll have to review our logs to find out why. I'm sure there's a story here they weren't willing to share with me just now._

 _Kejal says the holograms will be happy if no one ever finds them again. From what I've seen of Donik, I think he's had enough of Hirogen hunters to last a lifetime, too. His only regret was that his mother would never know of his survival. When he said this, Captain Janeway asked him for the coordinates of his mother's home. If our path to the Alpha Quadrant should take us near enough to send word to her, we'll forward the private message he's placed in the captain's possession. Donik wished his mother to know he'd found a way to utilize the skills she encouraged him to learn, allowing him to turn his back on the Hunt forever._

=/\=


	12. A Very Strange Day

_=/\=_

 _Stardate 54359.8 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Something very strange happened today. Commander Chakotay ordered Lieutenant Torres to burn out Voyager's deflector dish. It should be operational by the beginning of Gamma shift, and Voyager will be able to go on its way again._

 _Naomi and I were in "Borg Central" this morning. I had fashioned a puzzle to help her learn more about genetic engineering. The puzzle was of a DNA chain. I was very pleased when she recognized the complementary base pair. I thought my teaching method was proving to be very successful - until Naomi told me she just found two pieces that fit together. This proved her recognition of spatial relationships is well developed, but she totally missed the point of the lesson in the structure of DNA chains._

 _She rolled her eyes at me and said, "I thought the 'point' was to finish the puzzle."_

 _I replied that she was also supposed to be learning something about genetics._

 _Then she asked me to help her find a green piece that looks like Tuvok's ear. I was about ready to give up the lesson right there, but the cargo bay doors slid open, and Commander Chakotay entered. I leaped up and apologized for the condition of the Cargo Bay. When I added, "sir," Naomi began to giggle. I don't know why. I explained I had been busy tutoring Naomi. He complimented me on my "creative approach," but I had to confess I was supposed to be writing a paper on transwarp instability. Instead, I was pursuing my own interest in genetics._

 _The commander went over to a very ordinary-looking cargo container. He lifted a bottle out of it and said, "Don't worry, your secret's safe - as long as you keep mine."_

 _Naomi was grinning, but I didn't "get it" until he said, "Antarean cider. Not the replicated stuff. There are only a few bottles left, and I don't want Neelix to get his hands on them."_

 _I suggested he store them with the salvaged Borg components. "Neelix never inventories those containers. He says they 'give him the creeps.'"_

 _The commander praised me, saying, "Officer-level thinking, Icheb. Would you mind?" I said I'd be happy to move the rest of the bottles into the Borg component containers for him. After he left, Naomi and I stowed them all away where Neelix would never find them._

 _Once we were done, Naomi informed me, "It's always a good idea to do a favor for the bosses. You never know. They might do you one in return someday." I must admit, Naomi is extremely perceptive for her age. She knows the politics of Voyager much better than I do._

 _Just then, we felt a huge jolt. The ship rocked, the lights flickered, and then went out for several seconds before the emergency systems kicked in. We abandoned the puzzle and contacted Naomi's mother in Sciences to find out what had just happened. Her lab monitors the bridge continuously, so they usually knew what's going on even when the rest of the crew is being kept in the dark. I guess that's a pun. I'll have to remember to tell Tom that one sometime. I forgot when I saw him at dinner. At any rate, Ensign Wildman told us Voyager had encountered some sort of space anomaly, which sent out a powerful tendril of energy towards the ship._

 _Fortunately, the deflector dish was set to the proper polarity frequency to repel it, although the dish was burnt out in the process. Ensign Wildman told Naomi to go to their quarters to work on her homework on PADDs until the power system stabilized. I accompanied Naomi to her quarters and went to Engineering to see if I could assist with the repairs. We had to fix the deflector dish only a few weeks ago, after Iden sent a feedback pulse at Voyager and stole Lieutenant Torres._

 _Lieutenant Torres told me she did need my help, which gave me an excellent excuse for my paper on transwarp instability to be late. Lieutenant Torres paired me with Ensign Bristow again. She said she was pleased to hear how well we'd worked together on deflector dish repairs when the lieutenant was abducted by Iden. "You're a good influence on each other," she said, but she was looking very sternly at Ensign Bristow when she said this. I don't believe she really meant the comment for me._

 _While we were working, I had a chance to ask him if he knew what had happened. Ensign Bristow did. Commander Chakotay came into Engineering and told Lieutenant Torres to reroute main power to the deflector, with the polarity set to a frequency he would input. "When she asked him why, he said, 'Ever hear of a lightning rod? In about three seconds, we're going to need one.' And it turns out, we did. Maybe we need to keep spare parts for an entire deflector array in storage, so we can fix it faster the next time it happens!"_

 _I had time to think about it, and I was fairly sure I knew what happened. When I went to the mess hall to eat dinner, Tom was there, too. I sat at his table. For a while, all we did was eat. I'd missed a couple of my usual nutritional supplement snacks, and I was famished. From the way Tom was eating his sandwiches, it looked like he also must have missed a meal or two. After I'd eaten enough to feel like practicing my social relationship skills, I leaned over to him and said, "Let me guess. We can't talk about it, or the Federation Temporal Police will be after us."_

 _Tom laughed. Without saying a word, he slowly drew his forefinger over his tightly-closed lips, then gave me the "thumbs up" sign. That was a good enough answer for me. We spent the rest of our meal chatting about the differences between evasive maneuvers when the ship is as big as Voyager, in comparison with shuttles the size of the Delta Flyer._

=/\=


	13. Dual Heritages

=/\=

Icheb knew Seven meant well, but sometimes her lessons could be extremely trying. Whenever she went into full "Borg" mode, Icheb had to rely on the patience he'd been forced to develop when he was First's underling. Tom Paris had dubbed this behavior of Seven's as "Borg perfectionism," after she took issue to the fact he had not requested certain details when he came to her regarding a projected flight path. _Voyager_ was taking what Tom called "pretty much a straight line heading" through a nebula, and all he wanted to know was if the more refined equipment in Astrometrics had detected obstructions in their path which his instruments at the helm had failed to pick up. Seven had taken exception to the fact he hadn't wanted her to identify the exact composition of the gases in the area as they were passing through. Icheb understood completely why Tom really didn't need to know anything about which elements they would encounter. Seven, of course, had another opinion.

This was one of those "perfectionist" days, too. When Icheb explained, "The Starfleet manual allows for a variance of point three," Seven wasn't satisfied.

"That's only a guideline. You can do better," Seven admonished, as she moved quickly from one warp control panel to another. Icheb shook his head slightly. Would any of his Starfleet superior officers ever be as picky as Seven of Nine? Doubtful.

Icheb's musings were interrupted by a growled, "I don't remember giving you permission to work up here." The lift carrying the chief engineer to the upper level of Engineering, where Seven and Icheb were working, was still on the ascent as she spoke.

Icheb turned towards Lieutenant Torres and said, penitently, "I'm sorry, Lieutenant."

An unapologetic Seven shrugged her shoulders. "I'm helping Icheb study warp mechanics."

Once the lift had stopped, the lieutenant stepped off and began to walk down the stairs. "You should have notified me. It's a busy day, and I . . ." Uncharacteristically, Lieutenant Torres stumbled off the final step and fell into Seven's arms.

"I'm fine," Lieutenant Torres assured them as she stood and brushed herself off. Clearly, she was not, however, as she grabbed her head and admitted she was feeling a bit woozy.

Although Icheb only had a standard tricorder available, he quickly switched it to read vital signs and ran it over the lieutenant. The reading shocked him. "I'm detecting another life-sign."

"Where?" Seven asked, looking around.

" _Inside_ Lieutenant Torres. It could be a parasite."

Icheb handed Seven the tricorder. After she looked at the readout, her eyes opened wide, and she hit her combadge to contact the Doctor.

::: _Go ahead_.::: The EMH responded.

"I'll be accompanying Lieutenant Torres to Sickbay."

::: _What's wrong?:::_

As she looked down on the chief engineer, Seven replied, "I believe she's pregnant."

Lieutenant Torres looked as shocked as Icheb felt. Not a parasite after all, he thought with chagrin. He would have to be more detail-oriented in the future. Obviously, "Borg perfectionism" did have its place.

=/\=

When Icheb went into the mess hall for his mid-morning nutritional supplement snack, Neelix was working in the kitchen. When he saw the young former Borg, he greeted him, as he usually did, with, "Icheb! Wonderful to see you! How are things going?"

"Very well," Icheb replied.

Since no one else was in the mess hall at that hour, Icheb had a chance to speak with the chef/morale officer/ambassador for several minutes. Conversing with Neelix was always easy for Icheb, sometimes _too_ easy. He often shared things with Neelix he hadn't planned on revealing. Icheb wasn't sure exactly how it happened, but just as Icheb was about to leave, he said to Neelix, "I have a delicate question for you. Normally, I ask Tom about this type of thing, but this time, I need to ask you. It concerns single-cell sexual reproduction."

"Oh, well, I'll answer it if I can."

"Neelix, I was wondering. How do Talaxians reproduce? I couldn't find anything in our data system about your people when I checked a little while ago."

Neelix was somewhat flustered, but he answered, "I never thought I needed to add that sort of information into the computer, since I'm the only Talaxian on board. The Doctor has all the information he needs about me from his physical exams." Neelix paused, but the expectant look on the young former Borg's face encouraged him to continue. "Truthfully, the process is basically the same as all the humanoids on _Voyager_. The couple gets very close, and the male and the female . . . um." He paused, looking quite a bit more uncomfortable. "Let me clarify that. The one exception was my dear Kes. The Ocampa . . . well, the female has something called an Elogium, and starts to eat dirt and bugs, and . . . um . . . how detailed do you want this explanation to be, anyway, Icheb? Can't Seven answer your question?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be intrusive, Neelix. If you don't want to tell me, that's okay. I do know the basic male and female process, which leads to procreation and gestation. I didn't want to ask the Doctor my question, though, because he would probably want to know if I wished to become involved with someone."

"Ah, you're right. I'm sure he would. The subject has always been of great interest to him. May I ask what brought on this question of yours?"

So Icheb told Neelix what happened in Engineering.

Since he'd arrived on _Voyager_ almost a year ago, Icheb had learned that Neelix often became enthused about unusual events, but he'd never known anyone to be so thrilled to hear about a crewmate's error before.

=/\=

A couple of days later, Icheb was working with Seven when Lieutenant Paris came to Astrometrics. "I want to thank you both for helping B'Elanna when she fainted," he said.

"I'm glad it wasn't a parasite," Seven replied, glancing in Icheb's direction. He sighed. Thanks to her eidetic memory, she would never forget his mistake. He hoped she wouldn't remind him of it too frequently. Why did he always seem to have misunderstandings like this with Lieutenant Torres? She was an officer any cadet would want to impress!

Tom didn't laugh. "Well, you probably don't know this, but there may be some problems with the pregnancy."

The jokes stopped immediately. "I'm sorry to hear that," Seven said earnestly.

"The Doctor suggested a treatment for the baby, but his findings are very confusing . . . at least to me," Tom admitted. He looked plaintively at Icheb. "You have some expertise in genetics. Do you mind taking a look at this?"

"Of course not," Icheb said, taking the proffered PADD.

While Icheb copied the data from the PADD into his console, Seven tried to reassure Tom. "Whatever the problem is, I have no doubt the Doctor will solve it."

"I hope you're right." Icheb thought Tom sounded worried.

After a couple of minutes, as Icheb watched the data reel by on the viewscreen of his console, he frowned. He opened a second screen, allowing him to convert the mathematical symbols to images of the baby's proposed DNA strand. After comparing the data screens, Icheb announced, "Lieutenant Paris, your confusion is understandable. There's a computational error."

Tom's spirits soared, but Seven said worriedly, "It's not like the Doctor to make a mistake like this."

"I didn't think that was possible," Tom agreed. "Unless . . . there's some sort of glitch in his program."

"I'll run a diagnostic," Seven informed him and turned to her own console to examine the EMH program.

Although Icheb immediately began to think of ways to fix the Doctor's computational error, Icheb said, "Please tell Lieutenant Torres, if there's anything I can do . . ."

"I'll let her know," Tom said sincerely. "Thanks."

After a very short time, Seven straightened her back and leaned away from her console. "It appears to be more than a glitch. I believe the Doctor's program has been tampered with."

Tom quickly slapped his chest to activate his combadge. "B'Elanna, this is Tom. Respond." When there was no response, he called out, "Computer, locate Lieutenant Torres!"

 _:::Lieutenant Torres is in Sickbay.:::_

He couldn't think of a reason either Lieutenant Torres or the Doctor would fail to answer Tom's first comm request, so Icheb was not surprised when Seven announced a few seconds later, "Someone's blocked communications to Sickbay."

Tom gritted his teeth and asked Seven if she could deactivate the Doctor.

Seven tried, but finally she was forced to admit, "Access to his program has been restricted."

The helmsman did not look surprised to hear this, either. "Keep trying. Paris to Tuvok."

 _:::Go ahead.:::_

"Meet me in Sickbay."

=/\=

As fast as gossip usually traveled around the ship, today Icheb heard nothing about what had happened in Sickbay. Icheb surmised that Commander Tuvok instructed his security team not to discuss the incident with anyone. Even Naomi didn't have any idea what Icheb was talking about when he asked her if she'd heard any rumors lately. The only hint he had that everything had turned out all right was the look on the couple's face when they appeared in the mess hall later that evening. Tom announced to everyone who was present, "If you've heard any rumors to the effect that there's going to be another baby on board _Voyager_ \- they're all true! Not that anyone could possibly have heard anything from anyone in here . . ." Tom stared at Neelix when he said the last part, which caused the Talaxian's cheeks to assume an orange glow. Gaining his composure, Neelix congratulated the couple in his usual effusive way, as if he hadn't already done so when he offered them to Tom on the day the pregnancy was discovered.

Icheb had already examined the information Tom had given him in greater detail. He'd quickly realized that the changes to "treat" whatever was supposedly wrong with the baby were, in fact, designed to remove her Klingon genes. This did not appear to be a wise idea to Icheb. If anything, the baby's Klingon inheritance would be to her benefit, making her stronger physically. If all the changes indicated on the PADD were made, Icheb believed several enzymes essential for digestion would not be manufactured in the baby's body. It was unlikely the Doctor had recommended these changes, but if his program had been tampered with . . .

Wasn't Lieutenant Torres happy to be part Klingon?

Icheb realized he didn't know as much about Klingon culture as he did that of humans. So far, most of his Starfleet training had emphasized the founding races of the Federation. He resolved to look more into the Klingons when he had the chance. He also wondered how difficult it might be for for people who are not wholly of one species to accept all the characteristics of both of their heritages. He'd heard Lieutenant Torres had a tendency to lose her temper easily, and she blamed her "Klingon side" whenever it happened. While Icheb and Seven had both been Borg, their dual heritages had been imposed upon them mechanically. It wasn't comparable to what Lieutenant Torres, Naomi, or Aimee Gilmore might face, as children of two different species by genetic code.

The more he thought about it, the more interesting a question it became. While this didn't directly involve the science of genetics, perhaps investigating how people of mixed backgrounds felt about their dual heritage was a worthwhile subject for him to study.

That evening, Icheb went to Seven and asked her if she thought he should return the PADD with the proposed genetic modifications to Tom, or save the device for future use - after completely erasing all the data and copying other files over the genetic inquiry. "Which course of action do you conclude would be the wisest, Icheb?" Seven asked.

"I believe erasure and reuse of the PADD would be best." Seven agreed with this decision, and Icheb complied.

=/\=

The next day, Icheb was giving Naomi a lesson in classifying a nebula by its constituent gases. While Seven was overseeing the lesson, she was not contributing anything to it. This was Icheb's responsibility, and he was doing it well. The lesson was almost over when Lieutenant Torres came into Astrometrics. She spoke briefly to Seven until Naomi had to leave for her next assignment. "A biology lesson with the Doctor! Ugh!"

Once Naomi was gone, Lieutenant Torres addressed them. "I came to thank both of you for your assistance in Engineering, when I got a little dizzy - when you discovered my pregnancy."

"We're glad we were of service to you, Lieutenant," Seven said.

Lieutenant Torres looked up at the Astrometrics view screen, then to the side, and then to the floor - anywhere, but at either of them - before adding, "As for the rest . . . I . . . " She seemed to run out of words to say.

Seven relieved the awkward situation. "Don't worry, Lieutenant. Neither of us will divulge what happened when Lieutenant Paris came to us for help."

"Thank you," Lieutenant Torres answered softly, finally meeting their gazes full on. "I'm glad you found that 'computational error,' Icheb. It's something I should have . . . caught myself."

Icheb didn't know whether he should respond to this, or if he should change the subject. The lieutenant changed it for him. "So, Icheb, if you wish to work on warp mechanics in Engineering, I'm sure it will be helpful to all of us in the future. Just leave me a message before you get there, to warn me when you're coming. You know, it's better if I'm not surprised . . . especially now."

Icheb and Seven both murmured they would certainly do that and they should have done it that time, too. Once their overlapping apologies for overstepping the chief engineer's authority were finished, Seven asked her, "How are you feeling? You haven't experienced any more spells of dizziness?"

"I'm feeling great. And the baby is doing great, too. When I was in Sickbay today, I felt the baby move. It was very exciting."

"Have you picked out a name yet, Lieutenant?" Icheb said.

She sighed deeply. "Oh, no! Not you, too! I've already got such a long list of choices. Should I choose Kathryn? Frella? Taya? Floxia? Marya? Gertrude?"

"Gertrude is the name of Hamlet's mother! Who suggested that name for your baby?" Icheb asked.

"Joe Carey. But he was joking. I hope. Since everyone else seems so interested in making a suggestion, what about you two. Do you have one you want me to add to the list?"

"In my studies, I've discovered an ancient people called the Romans who named their children with numbers, like Septima and Octavia," Icheb offered, glancing towards Seven with a barely suppressed grin.

Even Seven chuckled as Lieutenant Torres said, "Good one, Icheb. I think we'll leave Septima for you to use if you ever have a child. Numbers are more your thing than Tom's or mine." She hesitated, and then added, "but I'll add Octavia to the list. Tom should get a laugh over that one."

Icheb smiled. It was nice to see Lieutenant Torres back to herself again.

The lieutenant began to take her leave from Astrometrics, but just before she reached the door, she swung back into the room. "By the way, I've noticed you call Tom by his name a lot of the time, but I'm always 'Lieutenant Torres.' Why is that, Icheb?"

"He told me once that he's 'Lieutenant Paris' at the helm, and 'Mr. Paris' in Sickbay, because that's what the Doctor calls him. But he told me that if he's off duty, I should call him Tom."

"That makes perfect sense. Why don't you do the same for me? When I'm off duty - which I am right now, you can call me B'Elanna. In Engineering, I'm Lieutenant Torres. In fact, Seven, you might want to do the same. Just one of those 'human social behaviors' you're always studying, you know? There's a time and a place to be formal, and another to be casual."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Seven said formally, prompting a smile from the chief engineer. "Since I'm presently at _my_ duty station, I prefer formality."

"Ah, of course," the chief engineer said, bemused. Turning to Icheb, she asked, "Shall I call you Cadet here, then?"

"Icheb is fine . . . B'Elanna."

After B'Elanna laughed and left, Icheb turned to Seven. "Shall I be Cadet Icheb to you when I'm on duty?" he asked.

"Unless you plan on calling me Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix Zero One whenever we are in here, I'd suggest you continue using the short form of my name."

"Until you're my mother, that is. Unless you still want to be Seven then?"

"Whatever you want to call me when that time comes will be fine with me, Icheb." From the warm expression in her eyes as she looked at him, Icheb decided it didn't really matter. She'd be his mother, and his mentor, no matter how he addressed her.

=/\=


	14. Repentance

=/\=

 _Stardate 54479.9_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _I have been thinking about what happened to the Nygean prisoners for the past few days. Seven has had a great deal of difficulty accepting what happened to Iko. We have spoken about her past as a drone, when she assimilated thousands of individuals and turned them into drones. In effect, she said, she killed them. Most of the time she is able to avoid thinking about it, but at times like this, she cannot. She cannot understand how she was exonerated of her actions by the captain, while Iko, who killed once, will have to give up his own life in compensation. Although the captain reminded her that she was sentenced by the actions of her parents to the life of a drone for twenty years, and was forced to act as she did by the Hive, Seven does not totally accept this rationalization._

 _Iko admitted he killed someone. He was violent and willing to kill Seven while he held her hostage in Sickbay. He was a murderer, and he was convicted according to the laws of his people. They allow the relatives of the victims to choose the sentence. Iko will die because the family of the person he killed insists upon this outcome, even though he is not the same man as he was when he killed. He had a birth defect which prevented him from having a conscience. When he was treated with Seven's nanoprobes, that defect was healed. Seven told me he was a very gentle person after treatment. He suffered severe guilt over what he had done, once he was restored to the person he should have been if he had not been born with this defect in his brain._

 _It is a strange thing to contemplate. Borg nanoprobes, when injected during the assimilation of a new drone, kills that person's capacity to be anything other than a small piece of the great Borg Collective. We are pieces of machinery rather than individual biological beings. We have no capacity to think for ourselves or choose how to act on our own. That was not really true of us in our Children's Collective, of course, because we were imperfectly formed drones with faulty nanoprobes, but I do understand what Seven told me about being a full drone. Yet in this case, nanoprobes, with their ability to heal, returned someone who was a murderer into the person he was meant to be. T_ _his fact did not sway the family of the man he killed to agree to a different form of punishment. Iko will still be executed._

 _That is not the only aspect of this event I have been contemplating. After the Nygeans boarded their transport and took the prisoners away, the crew who are part of Commander Tuvok's Security Department, who were working extra shifts guarding the prisoners, were able to resume a more normal schedule of activities. One of those crew members is Angelo Tessoni, one of the Equinox "Five."_

 _Naomi came to me yesterday, troubled by what she'd overheard while she was in the Gilmore quarters playing with Aimee. Mr. Tessoni came to visit Marla. Since Naomi was there, they went to another area of the quarters to talk about what might happen to them when they returned to the Alpha Quadrant. They were upset by all that had occurred while the Nygean prisoners were on board, and they spoke loudly. Naomi could understand what they were saying, even though she does not have enhanced hearing like I do (although I understand Ktarians do have sharper hearing than humans, and Naomi must take after her father in this way)._

 _The two spoke about the atrocities they had participated in while serving on the Equinox. He was unhappy they had gone along with their superiors on the Equinox, even though they'd had little choice in the matter. Lieutenant Burke had threatened their lives if they did not cooperate. Their captain had ordered them to maintain secrecy once Voyager rescued them. Burke told them they would "suffer the consequences" otherwise. Apparently, it was "cooperate or go out an airlock." They agreed that they **should** have risked those consequences and told Captain Janeway what had been going on, even though they would still suffer punishment for using aliens as fuel. Perhaps it would have gone better for them if they had done that, but they had supported their own officers instead of following their consciences, even though they finally had Captain Janeway to appeal to, something they'd never had during all their time on Equinox. Mr. Tessoni wondered what sort of punishment they might face when Voyager returns to the Alpha Quadrant._

 _Marla reminded him that the Federation does not execute prisoners anymore, but they will almost certainly be imprisoned. For herself, she knows this is a just punishment. If it comes to a court proceeding, she would plead guilty and accept the sentence imposed. Marla's sister will take Aimee and raise her, if Aimee is still a small child once we return to the Federation. Marla became very emotional over this. She admitted to Mr. Tessoni she had considered this possibility before she began the adoption process, but her love for Aimee overcame any hesitation on her part. She hopes she has not condemned her daughter to pain in the future, but "taking care of Aimee is the most important thing, and she will always have a family, even if it isn't with me." Marla is sure of that._

 _She told Mr. Tessoni that all they could do is work as hard as they can to cooperate with Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay now, as they have been doing for the past year and a half. Since we cannot expect to arrive in the Alpha Quadrant for several years, at the earliest, Aimee will grow up in her care until we arrive. The court may be lenient with them and simply throw them out of Starfleet. "And that's what we'd deserve," Mr. Tessoni told Marla._

 _Naomi was very troubled. She had known there was some sort of cloud hanging over the five from Equinox, since she observed much of what happened when they first came on board, but she hadn't heard many of the details of what had occurred on Equinox before this. (Mezoti had told me much of this, so it wasn't a big surprise to me.) Naomi found it hard to believe Marla and the others had done what she'd heard them admit to doing._

 _Naomi said she's always wanted to get home so that she could spend a little time with her father while she's still growing up, even though she fears losing her "Voyager family" once we do. But she also wants Aimee to remain with Marla Gilmore throughout her childhood. I assured Naomi that we would speak up for them when we returned home. Perhaps it would help them avoid prison. I also told her that our situation on Voyager is so unique, we will always be closer and part of a Voyager "family," even after we return to the Alpha Quadrant. She calmed down after I said this and went home to her family's quarters._

 _Once Naomi left, I thought about this situation. It's hard for me to imagine Noah Lessing willingly participating in mass murder - or Jim and Brian, or Marla and Angelo. They admit they did, however, and, like Tom Paris, they seem to be trying to redeem themselves for their past crimes. I have never heard about any complaints about their behavior. Commander Tuvok would never have assigned Mr. Tessoni to his security team if he had any questions about his suitability for such tasks._

 _From my Academy studies, I know the defense of "I only followed orders" is generally not considered acceptable, but the situation which Voyager and Equinox found themselves in is unprecedented, as far as I've been able to discover. For years, both ships traveled through the Delta Quadrant totally out of contact with anyone in the Federation to whom their crews could appeal when superior officers ordered them to act against their consciences. Everyone on Voyager was fortunate. Captain Janeway followed Starfleet procedures to the best of her ability. There were a couple of questionable decisions, as I've noticed from reading the logs, but considering the way Captain Ransom and Lieutenant Burke acted in similar situations, she has shown admirable restraint and maintained a high standard as captain. If Mr. Tessoni and Marla and the others had appealed to the captain for sanctuary once Voyager discovered them and told her what they had been ordered to do by Ransom and Burke, I believe leniency might have been offered upon our return to the Alpha Quadrant. But they kept silent, even participating in stealing a multiphasic shielding device Seven had developed, leaving the crew of Voyager vulnerable to alien attacks. Three Voyager crew members died as a result. I don't believe the five serving here now expected or wanted that to happen, but those are the facts._

 _While I enjoy my Starfleet training session with Commander Tuvok and the rest of the staff, I've always wanted to get to the Alpha Quadrant sooner, rather than later. I'd like to attend classes on campus at the Academy on Earth. But if it means Aimee can grow up with Marla Gilmore, the mother who loves her, I would be willing to travel for twenty years or more before arriving "home." I don't want to see anyone go to prison for what they did under duress. As long as we are still traveling in the Delta Quadrant, that will not happen._

 _And I have the death of the alien freighter captain on my conscience. Maybe I've only got one death, compared to the thousands Seven is upset about, but one is enough. I will never forget that man. I wouldn't have done it if I knew it would have failed no matter what I did, because my nanoprobes were not "cooked" enough to assimilate him properly, but that's not a very good rationale either. I must live with that, and with any other punishment I may be subject to in the future, because of my actions on the Children's Collective cube._

=/\=


	15. Klingons

=/\=

"Watch out, Icheb!"

A body flew across the corridor, mere centimeters away from slamming into Icheb as he dodged a step backward.

The body belonged to Ensign Harry Kim. The warning had come from Neelix. And Mr. Kim's growling attacker was Ch'Rega, the Klingon warrior woman who had been actively pursuing Harry Kim for the past few days. She favored Icheb with an intense glare as he moved backwards another step. Raising both hands, palms outward, to show he bore nothing remotely like a weapon, Icheb nodded formally to her and then walked to the other side of the corridor to proceed away from the mess hall, passing Neelix, who was gazing raptly at the tall Klingon woman.

Before he'd moved far down the hallway, Neelix caught up to Icheb. "Isn't she magnificent?" Neelix chortled.

"She is an impressive female," Icheb acknowledged. "However, I don't believe Ensign Kim is as drawn to her as she seems to be towards him."

Neelix shook his head. "I don't understand him. He often talks about wanting a relationship, but here he is, presented with a wonderful opportunity to experience the full flower of Klingon womanhood, passionate, eager . . . and he doesn't seem to care about her at all!"

"Tom and B'Elanna told me he only seems to want women who are unattainable. Ch'Rega has made it very clear she is interested in Ensign Kim. She's attainable. Perhaps that's the problem."

"You might be right, Icheb." They had arrived at the turbolift, and Neelix pushed the call signal. "Are you getting on the lift, too, Icheb?" he asked.

"No, I'm going to Cargo Bay Two. Perhaps I should call it 'Klingon Central' for the duration of the trip, until we arrive at their new planet." Icheb's smile was brief and, perhaps, a little forced.

"Ah. How are things going there? Only three families, right?"

"That's all we could accommodate. They offered to dismantle more of our regeneration cubicles to make room for another family, but the captain agreed that ten extra cots was enough for the space."

"It's a bit crowded, I know. I gave up my own quarters to a family, you know. I'm bunking in with Mr. Vulcan."

"Yes, I am aware," Icheb said, forcing himself not to grin while Neelix was standing in front of him. Fortunately, he didn't have to maintain a serious façade for long. The turbolift arrived, and Neelix was off, doing whatever he was doing today. The Talaxian was a very busy man. Icheb's grin appeared when the thought struck him that he might be going to those quarters he was sharing with "Mr. Vulcan." An odder couple, Icheb could not imagine.

=/\=

Icheb actually was pleased to have a chance to observe the Klingons who were traveling on _Voyager_ at present. The only Klingon he'd ever met before was Korok, the former Borg who had helped Voyager's crew rescue Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok, and Lieutenant Torres during the Unimatrix Zero incident. And, of course, he was quite friendly now with B'Elanna.

Ever since he'd been the first to discover B'Elanna's pregnancy, and its aftermath, when he'd evaluated the fetal DNA pattern and helped Tom prevent his wife from changing their baby's genome, he'd become closer to the couple. B'Elanna appreciated that Icheb "knew how to keep his own counsel." In other words, he'd never gossiped about what had happened. Icheb had long understood she hated being the subject of rumors. He'd wondered if this was a Klingon trait, or a part of her human personality, since she was only half Klingon. Now that he'd had the chance to observe the full-blooded variety, who seemed to "let it all hang out," as Tom put it, almost all the time, Icheb realized just how unique B'Elanna was. He could also see how very good Tom Paris was for his wife. Tom accepted her completely and loved her for her Klingon side as well as her human one. Icheb was pleased he was also valued by Tom as a close friend. Tom had always been easy for Icheb to speak with, and he answered questions about humanity - and human frailties - honestly. As much as Icheb loved Seven (even though they still didn't say the love word much), he also liked having someone like Tom to consult with. Becoming an individual was an ongoing process, he'd found, and Tom was as good a mentor as Seven was in some ways, just in different areas of Icheb's life.

One of these areas was, of course, single-cell reproduction. Icheb had diligently studied the database, as he'd been advised to do by many crew members, but he didn't have any true memories of the process. Seven had once indicated she did, from the memories of the assimilated, but Icheb doubted she really understood, from a conversation he'd had with Tom some time ago. Icheb told him that while he understood the process from his studies, he'd never had the benefit of a full complement of Borg drone memories, and he wondered what it felt like. Tom told him, simply, "I really can't explain that part to you, Icheb. When you get into a relationship with someone, then you'll find out."

"It's not something you can describe?"

"Icheb, there's an abundance of literature about the subject, and I can honestly say that while it's fun to read about it, the only way to really know is to experience it. Besides, if you're not in love with the person you're with, you still won't get the whole picture. Be patient, Icheb. You're young. You'll find someone someday, and I promise you, it will be glorious! But do me a favor. Don't start hanging outside our quarters and taking notes about how often or how long we enjoy ourselves. That won't tell you anything."

"Did Seven actually DO that?"

"Oh, yes, she did. I had to hold B'Elanna back or she'd have been in the brig for assault!" Tom was shaking his head when he said this to Icheb, but he was laughing about it, too. Icheb remembered when Seven once told him Tom and B'Elanna were "sensitive" about talking about their relationship and single-cell reproduction when he'd first came on board _Voyager_. Tom's comment had put it all into context for Icheb.

Icheb guessed that Ensign Kim's reluctance to become involved with Ch'Rega might have something to do with his desire for an ongoing relationship. She was pretty, but she was also very aggressive. Harry wasn't the aggressive type, and he didn't seem to appreciate it in others that much, either. Ch'Rega and the Klingon sect were only going to be on board a short while. They'd been traveling from the Alpha Quadrant for over a hundred years, searching for a new home where they could uphold their traditional Klingon values, something they felt other Klingons had failed to uphold. Their scrolls foretold they would find a savior on their travels, a "kuvah-magh," who was "younger than old age, and stronger than sickness." Apparently the Klingons hadn't found their "kuvah-magh" yet, and they were almost at the planet. Icheb wondered if that part of their prophecy would ever occur.

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate_ _54521.9_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Voyager is in orbit over the new home of the Klingons. A lot of us have already sampled a shore leave of sorts on this planet. The Klingons tried to take over Voyager and had planned to steal our ship and leave the crew here. They transported most of the crew down to the planet, including me. It's a planet much more suited to Klingons than to humans, or Brunali, for that matter. Fortunately, the bridge crew was able to hold onto the ship and prevent the takeover._

 _What finally made the Klingons accept settling here was the curing of the_ nehret _, a disease all of the Klingons carried in their DNA. They failed to tell the captain about it when they sabotaged their ship to came on board Voyager. I guess I was wrong about Klingons being honest and "letting it all hang out," as Tom called it. When it comes to strategic matters, they are very capable of keeping a secret. Thanks to T'Greth, I learned they could be duplicitous as well. He was the one who planned the takeover of the ship. Kohlar, the leader of the Klingons, did not cooperate with him._

 _The_ nehret _was cured because of Tom and B'Elanna's baby. She really is their savior, the "kuvah-magh" they were looking for all along. Some of the Klingons had rejected her. T'Greth, called her a "mongrel child" because she is three quarters human. However, I spoke with the Doctor, right after B'Elanna and the baby had become carriers of the disease because of their exposure to the condition. I mentioned to the EMH that the baby's human genome might be utilized to formulate a cure. The Doctor, as he usually does, has taken all the credit for it, even though I did prompt his "hunch" for a way to proceed, and even though I worked with him in the lab to develop the successful treatment. I will allow him the credit, however, since he did finish the antivirus formulation when I was snatched away from the lab and transported to the planet's surface during the Klingon's attempt at taking over the ship._

 _Kohlar did come up to me to compliment me on my "assistance" with the cure, so I guess the EMH was honest with him about our working together. I have read about how important honor is to Klingons, and in Kohlar, I see how it works. T'Greth, the Klingon who rejected B'Elanna and the baby's aid until he himself was cured by them, is not a sterling example of the Klingon honor principle, although he did apologize to Tom and B'Elanna before he was transported to his new home on the surface. I hope he doesn't cause problems for Kohlar and the rest of the group as they build their new colony. After all the trouble he caused, I would not trust him._

 _Ensign Kim was not sorry to see Ch'Rega go. Neelix was. It's very amusing to think of Neelix, who is very small and un-Klingon-like in personality, sweeping the very tall, imposing Ch'Rega off her feet, but that's what he did. I never realized before how well Neelix can absorb a culture's attitudes and traditions and use them for his own purposes - in this case, a very romantic, if vigorous, interlude. I understand why he's become so important to everyone on Voyager. He sees a need and then finds a way to transform himself to fill it. When he said he was going to miss Ch'Rega, I realized how lonely he must be. He's the only Talaxian on board, and as we travel towards the Alpha Quadrant, his home planet is falling further behind all the time. Everyone on Voyager likes him, but he wants his own people. Perhaps he will find someone in the future who will be willing to stay with him all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. I'd like to see that. He deserves to find happiness, but in the meantime, I'm glad he had fun with Ch'Rega - even though "Mr. Vulcan" was very glad when Neelix went back to his own quarters. I heard Chell say that the commander had to "fumigate" his quarters after Neelix left. I'm not sure why, exactly. All Seven and I had to do was take out all the cots once our families left us._

 _Seven and I are glad that we are back to having Cargo Bay Two to ourselves again, as our personal "Borg Central." Seven characterized our Klingon experience as "illuminating." She said she never appreciated how "human" B'Elanna was before meeting with the Klingons. I said it was "interesting." But I'm glad it's over._

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate_ _54553.2_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _I have been unable to spare the power for a log entry since we entered the Void. I needed to give my entire allotment to Seven so she could regenerate while Voyager was in gray mode. Now that we are out of the Void, I find I don't have that much to say about it. The captain found a way for us to cooperate with the crews of other ships which were also stuck inside, and we managed to get out of the Void and into normal space by working together. That's as much as I really want to remember about this experience._

 _When we were lost inside it, and it looked like we would never get out, I was glad Mezoti wasn't with us. Considering how she reacted to some of the events when she was on board, I think she would have been very upset by being stuck in the Void. She also wouldn't have liked being transported down to the surface of a planet when the Klingons tried to take over Voyager. I'm glad she's safe on Wysanti with Azan and Rebi, even though I still miss her very much._

 _I guess I always will._

 _=/\=_


	16. Quarra

_=/\=_

Despite his disappointment about his employment status, Icheb liked working at the daycare center. While he didn't have a lot of memories from his life on Brunal, before emigrating to Quarra, he knew his only experience with babies had been with his foster sister Aimee. He'd traveled to Quarra with Aimee and Marla Gilmore, along with Samantha Wildman and her daughter Naomi. The families had come to this planet to find work, since the opportunities for advancement were so much better on Quarra than on Brunal. He was happy Naomi Wildman was assigned to the day care center to spend her after school hours, since she still very young to stay in the Wildman's apartment alone. Besides, the day care center was a good place to be. He'd discovered all the little children were fun to play with, and Naomi admitted she enjoyed her work there as a childcare-aide-in-training, too.

Icheb hadn't qualified for work in the power plant. He'd thought he would, since he had a lot of technical knowledge, but once the family arrived on Quarra, they found out there was a minimum age requirement to work in the plant, because of the radioactivity present. He wouldn't meet the standard for another half-annual rotation. Icheb could obtain additional training in power plant technology, but he wanted a way to help support himself in the meantime. He didn't want to depend upon his foster family forever. Because of the severe labor shortage on Quarra, however, the day care center's director Varin Leothos had begged Icheb to work with them while he completed his courses at night, and Marla agreed he could.

The Gilmores lived in the same building as Naomi and Sam Wildman. Sam often cooked for all of them, because sharing meals was very pleasurable. It seemed right, somehow. Once Icheb reached the age to qualify for a position in the plant, and he had more money to spend, he promised himself that he'd take all of them out to dinner at least once an eightday, to pay them back for their kindness towards him, since he was an orphan. Of course, he had to be an orphan. His facial features were different from the others. Actually, it seemed all of the children must be orphans, since none of them resembled their mothers exactly.

It was strange. As soon as they'd arrived on Quarra, he'd experienced odd dreams and the disquieting feeling that "something wasn't right." He couldn't figure out exactly what it was, but until he did, he needed to make sure little Aimee was safe during the hours they were at the center.

Most of his work days were spent feeding toddlers, changing diapers, and playing with the little children in the nursery. After midday nap time, he read stories to older children, but he always made sure he knew exactly where Aimee was, every time unit. Once Naomi arrived after school, he could relax a little, since she always looked out for Aimee, too. The children's books really fascinated him. It was odd, but he couldn't remember reading any stories from when he was a child. Dr. Kadan told him there had been an accident with the ship transporting them from Brunal to Quarra, and that was probably why his early memories had been disrupted.

One day, he'd seen a person walking by the center who seemed familiar. When he asked, he found out it was Annika Hansen, the new efficiency monitor for the plant. He asked Marla if she remembered her, but Marla didn't. After that day, Icheb always looked out for Annika Hansen when her shift ended. He finally decided the reason she was familiar to him had to do with her metal facial plates, which were very similar to his. When he learned she'd started work at the plant on the same day Marla and Samantha did, he realized they probably met on their ship. Annika must have been damaged in the ship's accident, too.

=/\=

A day came when everything changed. Director Leothos came to him in the middle of the afternoon and told Icheb that information had come to her attention earlier that day. He needed to bring his sister and Naomi Wildman to the Gilmore apartment until their mothers came home. An Inspector Yerid would take them to the apartment. Once they arrived, he'd assign one of his staff to remain with them until Marla and Samantha arrived home from their shift.

As it turned out, Icheb, Aimee, and Naomi had barely entered the home when their mothers came in. Icheb was surprised to see the efficiency monitor from the plant walk in with Marla and Samantha. Inspector Yerid had not left yet, so he stayed and told them a fantastic story about how their memories had been tampered with, and they weren't who they thought they were. Icheb wasn't sure what to think, but he was really confused when Annika Hansen came over to him and said, "Icheb, Marla Gilmore isn't your mother. I am."

Icheb examined her face intently. The metal plates did seem to be very much like the one on his nose. "I admit you seem familiar to me, but I'm sure Marla is my mother."

"Think back, Icheb. Close your eyes. There's a huge space ship, in the shape of a cube. It's a Borg vessel. The corridors had many mechanical projections. The lights shone green, and there was a lot of mist floating by."

Since Icheb had always been obedient, he closed his eyes and tried to access his memories. And there they were. "We were dressed in leather and metal implants. I didn't have hair on my head like I do now. Six of Six . . . " He opened his eyes and saw little Aimee in her mother's arms. "Aimee! She almost died! And First did die!" He glanced at Annika. "You came. You rescued us. Seven . . . Where are the others? Where is Mezoti? And Azan and Rebi?"

She gently clasped her hand on his shoulder. It was the arm with Borg appliances still supporting implants within her arm, he realized. She said softly, soothingly, "They're all right, Icheb. Several months ago we left them on a planet a long way from here. Mezoti is safe with Azan and Rebi. They live with the boy's grandparents. But we need to go back to _Voyager_ , so we can get the rest of our memories back and resume our journey to the Alpha Quadrant."

"Wait. You're not taking Icheb away from us! Aimee and I need him!" Marla cried out, holding her daughter close and stepping between Icheb and Annika, to keep him safe with her.

"Marla Gilmore, Icheb is my adopted son, but Aimee really _is_ your daughter. You belong on _Voyager_ , too. And so do you, Ensign Samantha Wildman, and you, too, Naomi. We all belong there. A lot of the people who are on Quarra were stolen by pirates and really belong someplace else. Our ship mates have been searching for us for the past few weeks, and now we're found. We're all going home. To _Voyager_."

=/\=

"How are you doing, Icheb?" Lieutenant Torres asked, putting down her lunch tray as she took the seat across from his in the mess hall.

 _'B'Elanna asked how I'm doing,'_ Icheb thought, as she sat down. _'That's what I should be thinking. It might take a while before I feel comfortable calling her by the name she told me I'd used for her in recent months.'_

"My memories are returning, but slowly," Icheb replied aloud, before taking a chip from his nutritional supplement nacho plate. He liked watching the cheese strings stretch out as he lifted the chip towards his mouth. This was a treat he didn't get while on Quarra, and the Doctor had prescribed extra nutritional supplements for the next week to strengthen his body systems.

After taking a few bites of her own lunch, the lieutenant asked, "Are you reading your Personal Log, Icheb? That's helped Tom and me remember. Look at the ship's official visual logs, too. That will bring a lot back."

"Yes, I have. And the Doctor has been letting me view his image library."

B'Elanna rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Wonderful. He's found a captive audience. I'll bet it's even worse than one of his 'educational' slide shows."

Icheb felt his mouth quirk up in a slight smile. "It is helpful to me, though. I haven't been on _Voyager_ very long, so the captain is not allowing him to show me images from any stardates before I arrived on the ship."

"Be thankful for small favors! He wanted to show me five years' worth of pictures when I got back! Since I was the only one he was treating at the time, he really took advantage." Icheb noted that she seemed more amused than upset, despite her words.

"Is it true? Your husband Tom was kind to you while you were on Quarra?"

"Yes, it's true. We were drawn to each other. He said he wanted to find the guy who left me alone and pregnant and punch him on the nose. Little did he know at the time he would've had to punch himself in the nose! I guess some of those feelings we have for each other were still there, despite what that witch doctor Kadan did to our memories."

"I think that's true. I felt something wasn't quite right from the first day I was on the planet. I always made sure I knew where Aimee was the entire time we were in the center. I knew I needed to protect her if anything happened. Naomi, too, when she came by after school."

"You know, Tom offered to link me up with some other couples who were having babies, and he told me once about this woman with a baby who could recommend a child care center to me, when I needed one. Was that your center?"

"Probably. We took care of a lot of babies there. I'm very qualified now in changing diapers, so when your baby comes, I can babysit her."

"Good to know, Icheb!" B'Elanna laughed. It came to him then that she didn't usually laugh a lot, possibly because she kept a close rein on her Klingon nature. It was nice to see her happy.

"Tom's memories are coming back, too?"

"Personal Log entries and pictures are helping him, too, but I think the best therapy for him is the TV set I built him. He's watching 2D Bugs Bunny cartoons and action adventure stories half the night! Maybe he should have gotten a job in that day care center, too."

"He was a successful bartender, I heard."

"Yes. Lots of opportunities to flirt. I can't say I blame him. He's always been a charmer, and we didn't remember each other down there. He did what came naturally - including starting a fight in the plant that got him fired the first day he was there!"

"Tom knows a lot about technical things, but he's a pilot, not an engineer."

"Very true." B'Elanna smiled indulgently at Icheb. That was the right emotion, he was sure it was. He was starting to get the subtle things back. He'd only been back on board for a few days, but he was eager to get where he'd been before being stolen by the Quarrens. That prompted another thought. "Lieutenant Torres. B'Elanna," he corrected himself. "We weren't the only people who were stolen by the Quarrens, were we?"

B'Elanna sighed deeply and took a sip of her prune juice before replying, "No, thousands were taken by the pirates and had their memories altered by Kadan. They'd been at it for several years before they caught us. The man the captain was friends with - Jaffen - said he'd really come for the job opportunities, but there were others who were eager to go back to their real homes. They were just travelers, like us, who were abducted. Many of them had families who had no idea what had happened to them. It's very sad, really. I hope the ones who want to go home actually get there. And the Quarrens will have a real problem staffing their power plants now, since they're losing so many employees at once."

Icheb had heard the captain had been a lot more than just friends with Jaffen, but he didn't think it was a good thing to mention to the lieutenant at that moment. "Maybe some will decide to stay to help out anyway, for a little while, at least."

B'Elanna shrugged, then waved to someone coming from behind Icheb. He turned and saw Tom speaking with Neelix and choosing his own lunch from the chef's offerings.

Icheb started to pick up his tray. He still had some of his nachos left, and most of his shake, but he thought he should move to another table to give the couple some privacy.

B'Elanna stopped him. "Don't get up, Icheb. I'm sure Tom would like to get the chance to visit with you again, too. It's nice to have a simple meal with friends - especially now that we know who those friends really are!"

"To help us remember?" Icheb replied.

B'Elanna smiled. "Yes. Just chalk it up to some memory therapy."

When Tom arrived at the table, and they chatted easily over some of the less consequential details of ordinary life on _Voyager_ , Icheb knew B'Elanna had been right. Visiting with friends was therapeutic, now that they were all back home. No wonder sharing meals with the Gilmores and the Wildmans when they were on Quarra had always seemed so right to Icheb.

=/\=


	17. Addiction

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54684.7_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Since we have returned from Quarra, Seven's behavior has perplexed me. She spends a great many hours of off-duty time on the holodeck. When I ask her what she is doing, or if I offer to join her in a program, she has been unwilling to let me come with her or share any information about her activities. While I have respected her privacy and tried not to press her too vigorously for an explanation, it seems very strange she is so unwilling to tell me what she is doing, especially since she does not seem to fully benefit from her time there. She seems more distant and distracted after she leaves the holodeck than she was before entering it._

 _This is very different from how I feel when I experience a program with Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, or Naomi. The only negative about leaving a program and returning to my regular duties is that I always wish the activity could have continued longer. That is one reason I usually go there with a friend. We can pool our holodeck credits and prolong our experience. My friends say this is perfectly normal. Tom told me one day that since I study hard and take my duties very seriously, I should unwind every now and then. "You need to spend some time having fun, Icheb," he said. "A young guy like you can learn about life that way. It doesn't all come from computer programs and books."_

 _B'Elanna feels the same way. She pointed out that in this area of space, we haven't found many opportunities to take a shore leave safely. Quarra may have been a break from our normal routine, but it created stress, instead of relieving it, once we found out how we'd been abducted and deceived by the people who knew how we got there and exploited us. (I'm glad the director of my day care center, Varin Leothos, wasn't one of them. In fact, before we left Quarra, I found out Director Leothos was also an alien abductee who hadn't any idea she didn't come to Quarra voluntarily until after Chakotay alerted Inspector Yerid's team about what had happened to Voyager's crew.)_

 _To get back to my point about utilizing holodeck programs, I remembered today that Lieutenant Reginald Barclay has a history of holodeck addiction, which has sometimes interfered with his duties. Despite this, he is a very capable officer who, among other accomplishments, developed the Pathfinder communication system, which enables us to maintain contact with the Alpha Quadrant. I investigated the condition in the Starfleet database. This is what I discovered:_

 ** _"Holodeck addiction (often contracted as holodiction) is a psychological condition in which a person becomes so consumed by engaging in holographic simulations that the real world becomes unimportant. While many individuals become entranced by the holodeck when first exposed to its imagery, only a very small proportion continue to abuse the technology for long periods of time. Those who do, who become nonfunctional in their everyday lives, often have underlying psychological issues which must be treated before the holodiction itself can be dealt with successfully. (See also: delusional thinking; schizophrenia; low self-esteem; fantasizing; withdrawal from social discourse)"_**

 _I was relieved to read this definition in the database. Seven is not schizophrenic or delusional. B'Elanna has often complained about her "superior Borg attitude," which is incompatible with a person with low self-esteem. Seven isn't the most sociable person on this ship, but I understand that. This is something the Borg instilled in both of us which we must learn to overcome. She cannot be considered an abuser of the technology - far from it. In all her time on Voyager, she's never used her entire allotment of holodeck hours. According to Tom and B'Elanna, the captain often has encouraged her to take some time and learn to "play." Captain Janeway feels she would benefit from allowing her imagination to run free in order to enhance her creativity. Fantasizing is a necessary aspect of creativity. Perhaps that is all she is doing, and I am wrong to worry so much about it. Despite the many hours she's been spending in the holodeck recently, Seven still has almost a thousand hours of holodeck time due to her._

 _But I still can't understand why, when I've mentioned I wouldn't mind accompanying her to one of her programs, she continues to sidestep the question and utilizes them completely on her own. I am afraid one of the reasons she escapes to the holodecks is because she has reconsidered her offer to adopt me and is reluctant to inform me of this decision. She isn't that much older than me, even though she seems so much more mature. Perhaps I need to let her know that if she decides she doesn't wish to complete the court process, I would understand. It would make me very sad if she didn't choose to continue the process, however. She is the only family I have left._

=/\=

When he finished dictating his log entry, Icheb was at loose ends. Again. He found it very strange to spend so many evenings in "Borg Central" by himself, even when Seven was not assigned to a duty shift in Astrometrics. When he'd mentioned this to Harry Kim a few days ago, Harry told Icheb that separating from parental figures and socializing with his own friends was part of growing up. He considered adding this comment to his log, but then left his entry as is. He decided he'd covered the subject adequately through Tom's comments.

Icheb now often chose to spend extra time in Engineering, where he was always welcome when he volunteered to help the staff. Although it would be a few months before B'Elanna delivered her baby, everyone was aware of the need to be able to function as independently as possible while she was on "maternity leave." Tom said he doubted she'd be able to stay away completely, of course. He often joked she'd be down there, "supervising" her staff, with their baby on her hip. It was good for Icheb to work there, however, since Joe Carey always had some project or other for Icheb to complete. Icheb felt his understanding of Federation engineering, and how the Borg technologies Seven and Ensign Kim had adapted to enhance _Voyager's_ capabilities interacted with it, had been greatly enlarged by his lessons with Joe.

Still, Icheb missed having the chance to converse with Seven about their daily experiences. They'd shared so many of them previously. Now he wanted to discuss what it was like for her when she was the "efficiency monitor" on Quarra. Icheb still had much to learn about living as an individual. Now that his days as a functional Borg formed only a small portion of his history, he felt Seven was the only person who could fully comprehend his personal journey. It was something they both had experienced.

He spent a lot of time with Naomi, of course, not only since he acted as one of her tutors, but also just because she was the only other "kid" on board he could socialize with. Aimee was just a toddler. He spent time with her, too, naturally. He often joined Naomi when she babysat Aimee. They enjoyed seeing her begin to develop a personality of her own. While Aimee's vocabulary was still extremely limited, they could see her starting to understand concepts like "up" and "down" and "behind" as they played Hide and Seek and Peek-a-Boo games with her.

Naomi called Aimee a "baby scientist." It _was_ fun to watch Aimee stare seriously at her toys falling when she knocked them over the edge of the table. "She's experimenting. Just like Sir Isaac Newton, she's discovering gravity!" once Naomi informed him; and he realized it was true, in a way. Every child must "discover gravity," as well as other scientific principles, by observing their world and testing hypotheses of their own with little "experiments" like these, even if their vocabulary was still insufficient to express to anyone else what conclusions they'd reached.

Ever since Quarra, Icheb had felt very protective of Aimee. He still thought of her as his little sister. In a sense, that's what she was. To him she would always be Six of Six, as well as Aimee Gilmore, even though she would find becoming an individual a much easier transition than the rest of their "Collective." She'd essentially begun the process on the day she was born. He doubted Aimee would remember being Borg. Only her remaining implants, only a couple of which actually showed on the surface of her body, marked her connection to the Borg.

Icheb and Naomi often talked about his "missing Borg siblings," since Naomi had never completely gotten over losing her friend Mezoti, any more than Icheb had. He still considered Mezoti his "true" sister. They often speculated on whether Azan and Rebi had ever learned to include Mezoti within their tight relationship. Although Icheb always assured Naomi that, by now, Mezoti was surely happy in her family life, at times he worried she might still be excluded by the twins. The last time they'd spoken together over subspace, Mezoti SAID she was happy with the Wysanti, but when Icheb reviewed the few letters he'd received before _Voyager_ was too far away to communicate with her, he noticed they were filled mainly with references to her studies. Other than Mazani and Arebi, the only person she spoke about consistently was her school teacher. She'd never identified a school friend by name, and Azan and Rebi were mentioned only briefly, in passing.

He might not be able to communicate through a cortical node anymore, but Icheb knew Mezoti very well from the time they still could. What she _hadn't_ said disturbed him greatly. It wasn't something he could speak about with Naomi, either. For that, he needed the reassurance only Seven could provide him.

And she was never around.

=/\=


	18. Human Errors

=/\=

At first, the energy discharges picked up on long range sensors seemed to be an intriguing puzzle, tantalizing a captain who was always eager to explore unexplained phenomenon, rather than a source of possible danger to _Voyager_. The discharges were located almost six light years ahead of the ship, presumably a safe distance away. Seven had been on the holodeck when she was summoned to Astrometrics to examine the problem with Captain Janeway, Tom Paris, and Tuvok. "We weren't able to determine what they are," Tom reported to Icheb, B'Elanna, and Harry at dinner a few hours later. "We did discover that this neighborhood is full of unusual amounts of subspace radiation and metallic debris. We'll have to navigate carefully for the next week or so."

Unexplained phenomenon fascinated Cadet Icheb as well. "I'll spend a little more time in Astrometrics to investigate this myself," Icheb said. "I'll let you know if I find out anything."

"That sounds like a good plan," B'Elanna replied. "I'd rather _not_ spend a lot of time crawling through _Voyager's_ innards to repair her right now." Ruefully, she looked down at her swelling abdomen.

Icheb had to smile as the image of a very pregnant Chief Engineer crawling through the narrow Jeffries tubes rose up in his mind's eye. "If you need my assistance, I'll be happy to do the crawling and repairing for you," he offered. "I'm sure the captain and Seven will authorize me to help you. It will be good experience. I can write a paper about it for the Academy."

"I'd rather you found the cause before there's any damage to the ship, Icheb!" Harry exclaimed. "The captain will probably send _me_ down to help with diagnostics, which means I'll have to do a lot of that crawling with you!"

Everyone laughed, but Icheb was to remember the conversation later as another case of "famous last words."

=/\=

When Tom came to Astrometrics to invite Seven to the 'surprise' baby shower, he invited Icheb to come, too. Icheb was secretly flattered, although what he verbalized was, "Isn't this what is generally called a 'hen party?' Shouldn't only the female friends attend?"

Tom laughed and responded, "Not on _Voyager_ it isn't! We're all one big happy family on this ship, aren't we? And family members all get to attend a family party."

"Then I'll be happy to come. Do you have any suggestions for a gift for the baby?"

"Why don't you discuss it with Seven. With your combined Borg brain power, I'm sure you'll come up with something great for our little girl." Tom replied. While Tom was speaking to both of them, Seven never said whether or not she'd come. As Icheb halfway expected, after he'd wrapped up his gifts of replicated children's picture books for the baby (which he'd researched by himself, since Seven was never available whenever he wanted to talk to her about presents), he attended the shower on his own. She never showed up for the party.

Even though her absence made Icheb feel a bit out of sorts while he walked to the Mess Hall, once he arrived, he was swept up in the joy of everyone who was attending the festivities. As always, they had that "touch of the Delta Quadrant," thanks to Neelix, that a baby shower on Earth wouldn't have had. "No one in the Alpha Quadrant has ever had the dubious opportunity to enjoy Spicy Leola Root Crudités a la Neelix," Tom laughingly explained. He seemed to be having just as much fun as B'Elanna when they opened the presents. Everyone was twitting Tom about having to change the diapers Harry presented to the couple. "What are you talking about? I've changed plenty of diapers in my time, right, Sam and Naomi?"

Poor Naomi blushed crimson, but Sam agreed Tom was a "great babysitter," which Marla Gilmore seconded. "And Icheb has turned into a fantastic changer of diapers, too," Marla added, which made Icheb's face feel flushed, even though he knew it was true. He'd become an expert, thanks to his work at the day care center, as well as being part of their "family" on Quarra.

B'Elanna and Tom were both enthused by the books he'd picked out for the baby. A couple were classic toddler picture books, "Good Night, Moon" and "Flotter Meets Trevis." He'd also replicated a couple of Winnie the Pooh books, which he'd taken the time to read before wrapping them. Icheb enjoyed the rustle and the feel of the pages as he turned each leaf over once he'd read it. He had no memory of being read to by his birth parents from his own early childhood days. For all he knew, the entire Brunali library of children's books had been destroyed by the Borg during the attacks which had devastated that civilization. Of course, from the way she'd treated him during his brief return to his home planet, it was possible his mother hadn't bothered to read to him when he was young. Icheb had enjoyed reading books to children at the day care center on Quarra, however, which led him to explore the ones in _Voyager's_ database. During the baby shower, he regaled Tom by reciting excerpts from the Pooh books from memory, when he wasn't quoting Shakespeare and other authors he'd discovered through his Academy literature course.

"I love it, Icheb! You can come read to our little one any time," Tom said, applauding one of his efforts. Icheb was very pleased by this.

Icheb had a good time at the baby shower. It would have been a great time if Seven had joined in the fun, but when he left the party, he was on his own again.

=/\=

Icheb had to make good on his promise to help with repairs to _Voyager_ when more of the still-unexplained energy discharges, and the shockwaves they generated, damaged _Voyager_. When, as Harry had predicted, Icheb crawled with him through various Jeffries tubes to complete a long list of diagnostics B'Elanna had assigned, Harry described what had happened on the bridge after the ship's warp drive was knocked out. "Chakotay tried to relieve the tension on the bridge by saying, 'If they _are_ weapons, they don't seem to be directed at us.' And then the captain answered him with: 'Or whoever's firing them is a lousy shot.'"

Icheb's response was a weak chuckle. Without warp drive, they couldn't get the ship out of the path of weapon fire very easily. It was no laughing matter.

As that day wore on, Seven confirmed the energy discharges were warheads emerging through a subspace barrier, which is why they'd been so difficult to detect. She had measured subtle gravimetric distortions when the warheads burst into normal space, but until the Astrometrics sensors were recalibrated to isolate the effect before emergence, _Voyager_ would continue to be vulnerable. Icheb showed up early for his duty shift to help Seven develop a warning system, but she didn't praise him for his efforts as he hoped. She obviously trusted him to do his work well, though, since she left him on his own in Astrometrics without telling him where she was going.

The next day, when Seven strolled into Astrometrics several minutes late, after Icheb had worked there on his own all night, Chakotay was there, too. Icheb played an automated warning beacon he'd discovered. _"You have entered subspace munitions range 4-3-4. Evacuate immediately. You have entered subspace munitions range 4-3-4 . . ."_

"We've been sending out emergency hails, but so far, no response," Chakotay informed Seven. "Whoever's conducting these tests could be dozens of light years away. Any progress detecting their warheads?"

Icheb noted Seven's discomfort when she admitted she had not. The commander had expected this answer, since Icheb had advised him Seven never mentioned she had when he'd arrived for duty the evening before. Chakotay said he thought she looked "a little distracted," and added, "It's not like you to be late for a duty shift. Rough night?"

Seven responded, "Not at all," but Icheb noted her lips quirking up in a secret smile. Afterwards, Icheb wondered if that was why, after the commander had left them to return to the bridge, he said flippantly, "Better late than never," a quote he'd learned from reading an ancient Roman scholar's work, A History of Rome.

Seven did not appreciate his attempt at humor. "You're relieved!" she spat out.

Icheb felt the rebuke keenly. His face must have shown this, because she then added, more gently, "Get some rest."

Despite her oblique apology to him, Icheb slunk out of Astrometrics, more convinced than ever that the mother/son relationship they'd established had somehow disintegrated. What had he done to make her turn away from him like this?

=/\=

Icheb was hard at work in "Borg Central," compiling research for the oral report he was scheduled to present to Captain Janeway in a several weeks, required for his completion of his course in Early Starfleet History, when the ship shuddered. Icheb was knocked off his feet and landed on the computer console. He activated the communication link to Astrometrics, ready to offer his assistance to Seven if she requested his presence. Before he could say anything, he overheard Commander Chakotay order Seven, "We _need_ those sensor calibrations."

After a brief time lag, probably undetectable to human ears, but easily perceived by Icheb's Borg-enhanced hearing, Seven responded, "I'll need a moment to return to my station."

This was a surprise. Seven was supposed to be on duty in Astrometrics this shift, and she hadn't requested Icheb to relieve her if her she'd been called to work elsewhere. After Icheb heard Chakotay's somewhat satirical response, "That would be a good idea," he opened another link to the bridge to follow what had happened to the ship. Because of Seven's rebuke to him earlier that day, Icheb was reluctant to go to Astrometrics unless she summoned him.

A few minutes later, Icheb had to hold onto the console when _Voyager_ was hit by still another shockwave. From the helm, Tom reported, "Hull fracture, Deck 12." That was an Engineering deck. Icheb could tell, from the tight sound of his voice, Tom was worried about his wife. Seven still had not called him to Astrometrics. Should he go there, despite her possible disapproval, or should he offer assistance to B'Elanna in Engineering?

Hull fractures were serious. Despite his desire to help Seven, Icheb decided he was needed on Deck 12. He shut down his presentation research and communication links to the bridge and Astrometrics before opening a channel to Engineering. "Lieutenant Torres. May I assist you?"

 _"YES!"_ she shouted. "Get down here as quickly as you can, Icheb! We could use your help."

=/\=

After working to repair the hull fracture with Lieutenant Torres's staff, Icheb reported to Astrometrics. He no longer cared if Seven wanted him there or not. Until they knew how to get away from this munitions testing ground, he should be there.

Astrometrics was empty when he arrived, but Seven had left the instructions on how to detect the shockwaves which were bedeviling _Voyager_. He isolated subspace bond omicron theta, as she'd indicated, and reviewed the sensor logs documenting the barrage which had just ended. The gravimetric distortions that marked a warhead's emergence from subspace, which they'd discovered previously, were easy to see now that he knew where to look. Icheb went to work. Whether she wanted him to or not, he was going to do what he could to protect their ship from further damage.

=/\=

When Seven returned to Astrometrics from wherever she'd been, Icheb was pleased to report, "I've analyzed the sensor data from that last barrage and refined your detection method. We'll be able to see the weapons 10.3 seconds earlier."

She glanced at his data, before walking away, commenting, "The captain will be pleased."

 _'Seven really must not want my help,'_ he thought. _'What is happening?'_ After a pause, Icheb finally asked her, "Seven, have I offended you?"

She turned to face him then, and he could see a grim expression on her face. He feared what her answer to him must be, but it wasn't what he expected to hear. "No, _You've_ done nothing wrong, Icheb. I was negligent in my duties. As a result, _Voyager_ was nearly destroyed." She paused, then said, hesitantly, "I was hoping you could provide a quotation to help alleviate my guilt."

"I . . . I can't think of one," he admitted. "But I would be happy to search the database."

She smiled at him. "That won't be necessary. Stay here until I return."

"Where are you going?"

"To correct an error," she sighed, and left Astrometrics again.

=/\=

Icheb was still on duty in Astrometrics, waiting for Seven to return from correcting her error, when the Doctor contacted him. "Icheb, Seven is with me in Sickbay. She's had a bit of a problem while running a holodeck program. I've decided to keep her under observation for a few hours. I've already informed the captain. When your shift is over, or if you need to leave Astrometrics for any reason, contact Stellar Cartography. Megan Delaney will relieve you."

"Is Seven's condition serious? Should I come to see her?"

"It's nothing for you to worry about. Just a little . . . programming glitch. I'll be releasing her soon. Just carry on with your work. If there's any change, I'll contact you."

It wasn't easy for Icheb to keep his mind on his scans, but he managed. It was important. He had to remain vigilant for as long as they were in range of the warheads in the testing range. That would be his prime duty until warp drive was restored and they could get _Voyager_ out of this dangerous region of space.

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54689.9_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _The Doctor called me in this morning and examined my cortical array. I asked him if this had anything to do with why Seven had been acting so strangely lately. We were fortunate she came around just in time to save us from the subspace warhead that had locked onto Voyager as soon as Lieutenant Torres succeeded in restoring warp drive. Seven was able to extract the detonator by transporting it out of the explosive device, rendering it harmless, but it was a very close call. The Doctor hemmed and hawed the way he does, and finally admitted that his examination of me had "something to do" with it, but he wouldn't tell me anything more._

 _Seven showed up in Borg Central, and I insisted we speak. I asked her if she was regretting her offer to adopt me, and, as I promised myself I would, I told her I would "understand" if she didn't want to go through with it any more. She looked very upset and said, "Of course, I still want to adopt you." She apologized for being so distant from me for so long. "It wasn't just you, Icheb. I was distant with everyone. I had some . . . personal issues . . . I needed to work out. I chose to create holodeck simulations to do that. It may not have been the wisest course of action. I'm sorry I lost patience with you. You didn't do anything wrong. I did. I have resolved to correct the error."_

 _She clasped my shoulder with her left arm, the way she did several weeks ago when she told me she was my mother, after she informed me our memories had been tampered with. "I meant what I said to you on Quarra, Icheb. You_ **are** _my son. This experience reminds me that no one is perfect, mothers, included. Family members can hurt each other sometimes, but it doesn't mean they don't care for each other. It's like the captain tells always tells us. We are all members of Voyager's family. And you and I are also a family."_

 _Her skin tone became paler than it usually is, although it wasn't turning gray, like Borg skin. She sat down heavily and began to rub her forehead over the cortical node I gave to her. I became alarmed and offered to call the Doctor, but she forbade me from contacting him. She sighed then, and admitted that strong emotional upsets weren't "good for her." I asked her to explain, and after a little pleading on my part, she finally did._

 _At first, when she collapsed on the holodeck and called the Doctor for aid, they both thought her cortical node was starting to fail again. That would be terrible, since I don't have one to donate to her anymore. I expressed remorse that the part I gave to her must be faulty._

 _She explained there is nothing wrong with her cortical node. It's actually working the way it's supposed to. The emotion inhibitor component prevents strong emotions. We already knew that, to a degree, since I became much more emotional after donating my cortical node to her. However, it doesn't just dampen emotions to make them less intense. When stimulation from strong, conflicting emotions become overwhelming, the component causes higher brain functions to shut down. The Doctor doesn't know if this could also threaten her life, but in order for her to experience normal human emotions, he'd have to reconfigure the node. He's willing to do that, but he told her it could be a difficult and lengthy process. "I declined the procedure, Icheb. The types of stimulation I was seeking weren't very good for me. Maternal attachments don't seem to be threatening. I may not be able to fully express how strong my motherly emotions are towards you, but rest assured, they are very strong. I simply need to be careful how I handle all of my emotions from now on."_

 _After a little more prodding, she confided that her simulations had to do with "interpersonal relationships of the affectionate kind." In other words, she was trying to experience romantic love. That's the emotional stimulus which was too much for her cortical node to handle._

 _I was glad she finally confided in me. It actually explains a lot about how I've been reacting to emotional stimuli since I gave my cortical node to her. I gave up being able to communicate subvocally with other Borg when I did, but apparently I gained the ability to experience emotions the way other humanoid beings do. Maybe that had something to do with why I misread B'Elanna's friendliness to me as romantic overtures when we were overhauling Voyager. My un-restricted emotions ran away with me._

 _If I'd known about that trade-off beforehand, I would still have given my node to Seven to save her life. I'm the one who's benefited the most. Not only did I keep my mother alive, I will also be able to fall in love in the future without my neural network frying my biological brain. If I ever find someone whom I could fall in love with, that is. Except for Naomi and Aimee, everyone on Voyager is so much older than me!_

 _I'm much too young to worry about that now, although I hope Voyager's travels will end soon enough for me to take advantage of this someday. If the trip does take three decades to complete, as our crew currently believes, I'll be almost fifty Federation Standard Years old before we arrive in the Alpha Quadrant. I'll be too old for romantic relationships!_

=/\=


	19. Q-uestionable Visitor

=/\=

". . . Finally, in the year 2270, Kirk's historic five-year mission comes to an end, and one of the greatest chapters in Starfleet history came to a close."

As he paused to take a breath at the end of this section of his oral presentation, Icheb relaxed his shoulders. It was going well. The captain was smiling at him and was beginning to rise off her Ready Room sofa near the windows. She must be getting up to obtain another cup of coffee for herself from her replicator. That shouldn't prevent him from continuing. "A new chapter began when Kirk regained command of the _Enterprise_ . . . "

The captain's smile disappeared."How many more chapters are there?" she inquired.

"Thirty-four," Icheb replied.

The captain groaned. "This was supposed to be a twenty-minute presentation."

"I was trying to be thorough. I could shorten the report," Icheb added, trying to be helpful. He hoped going over the allotted time for his presentation wouldn't count against him. He'd considered the twenty-minute stipulation had simply established the minimum amount of time his oral presentation must last for him to satisfy the course requirement.

"That won't be necessary." Putting up her hand to preserve silence, Captain Janeway stood up and declared, "You obviously know the subject matter." Standing erect to make herself as tall as she could in front of the lanky cadet, she proclaimed, "Congratulations, Cadet. You have just passed Early Starfleet History."

"Thank you, Captain." Icheb turned crisply away and exited the ready room. Another course successfully completed! As he stepped onto the bridge, Icheb noticed Seven was standing at her bridge station. When he walked out of the ready room, however, she looked up from whatever she was doing and peered inquiringly at him.

"I passed," Icheb announced to the bridge crew.

"As I knew you would," Seven replied succinctly, but from the light in her eyes, he knew she was proud of him.

Tom, sitting at the helm, didn't turn around, but he called out, "Told you you'd nail it!" Both Chakotay and Harry Kim offered their congratulations. Tuvok nodded slightly, with his eyebrow raised in the manner Icheb had learned to recognize as the Security and Tactical Chief's approval. Tuvok's second in command Ensign Ayala and Security Officer Bhavin, who were both standing at rear bridge stations behind Seven, didn't actually verbalize praise either, but both grinned at him, which pleased Icheb nonetheless. He didn't really expect anything more from the most taciturn members of _Voyager's_ crew.

"I'm leaving the bridge now, Icheb. Will you accompany me?"

"Of course, Seven," he answered. She'd want a full report of what had occurred in the ready room, of course. He wondered if she would be disappointed that the captain hadn't wanted to hear all the details he'd collected about the career of the legendary captain/admiral/captain. As he entered the turbolift with Seven, Icheb thought that as long as a cadet knew the history of Kirk and his predecessor, Captain Jonathan Archer, who commanded the first starship called USS _Enterprise_ , Early Starfleet History was an easy course to pass.

He had no idea of the captain's other visitors right then, or how complicated his life would become at their hands over the next several days.

=/\=

Within hours, the crew were trading stories about the Q, particularly the one who was currently residing on _Voyager_. Icheb had to research who Q was, since his knowledge from the Borg had only the sketchiest information about a race of beings who called themselves that. Because they proclaimed they were omniscient and could pop in and out of normal space at will, taking any form they wanted, Borg drones had tried to assimilate them many times. They always failed. The beings would flash out of existence, melt away, or turn into a mist so quickly, the assimilation tubules could never deliver any nanoprobes to a Q. The Q had never struck back at the Borg after these attempts, but since the Queen considered a Borgified Q a potential weapon to defeat the Collective's nemesis, Species 8472, the failure to assimilate them was frustrating to her. That much, Icheb did know.

This Q seemed to be doing everything he could to make everyone's life miserable. He appeared on the bridge shortly after Icheb left it after passing his course in Early Starfleet History and, after the captain refused to allow him to fly into fluidic space to fight Species 8472, he declared he wanted to see more interesting things than "bipeds pushing buttons" and disappeared. He turned Main Engineering into some sort of wild party, almost causing a warp core breach. In the Borg Central cargo bay, he showed up while Seven of Nine was working and removed all her clothing so he could stare at her naked body. Since he hadn't prompted a reaction from her, however, he left. He reprogrammed the food replicator in the Mess Hall so it would say "Make it yourself" when anyone asked it for anything. When Neelix suggested he use his powers to relieve a food shortage in one planetary system instead of instigating a war, Q fused Neelix's jaw shut and removed his mouth and vocal cords - because Neelix "talked too much."

When this Q appeared on the bridge and instigated three Borg cubes into attacking Voyager to "see how humans act under pressure," however, he'd gone too far. Three drones materialized on the bridge, and the captain was saved from assimilation by still another Q. This was the father of the one who was causing all the trouble, apparently. After the father Q dispatched the drones and cubes somewhere else and repaired the damage to Neelix, according to the gossip, he snarled at his son, "If the Continuum has told you once, it's told you a thousand times: **Don't provoke the Borg!"**

The next thing Icheb heard was that the junior Q had been turned briefly into an Oprelian amoeba. The Doctor told Icheb that "Junior Q" had been forced to live in one of the Doctor's tiny petri dishes. "When he was turned back into a humanoid, he complained that life as an amoeba was disgusting, because he was slimy, and he only had paramecium to eat. His father told him he had just one week to become an upstanding citizen of the cosmos or he'd spend the rest of his life as an amoeba. And he's been stripped of his Q powers and forced to live as a human, just like the two of us."

"Doctor, you're a hologram. I'm Brunali. Strictly speaking, neither one of us is human."

"A mere detail. You comprehend my meaning. The important part is, 'no Q powers.' He has to live like any of the crew as long as he's here. And do you know what he did when he was leaving my sickbay?" When Icheb admitted he did not, the Doctor exclaimed heatedly, "He stomped on the petri dish and smashed it to smithereens. He walked right through it and left a trail of culture medium all over my floor. I had to clean it up myself. What a colossal waste of time! I'm a Doctor, not a janitor."

Hiding his smile, Icheb said, "I'll do my best to stay far away from him, Doctor." That was much easier said than done, however

=/\=

Icheb was working on an exercise Seven had given him, recording the properties of several singularities detected in the region of space in which _Voyager_ was traveling, when Tuvok escorted a stranger into Astrometrics. He was dressed in the uniform of a Starfleet crewman, but since Icheb had never laid eyes on him before, he knew this must be the Q which the Doctor, not to mention just about everyone Icheb had had contact with over the past few hours, had spoken. Tuvok explained, "Seven of Nine will be instructing you in spatial causality. You will learn how your actions can have widespread repercussions."

In a bored tone of voice, Junior commented, "I read the PADD. You're going to tell me how I can't create Anomaly A without causing Phenomenon B, which, in turn, affects Civilization C, right?"

If this Q thought this statement would get him out of the lesson, he was very much mistaken. When Commander Tuvok assigned something to you, as Icheb very well knew, you did the assignment. Perhaps Q had not yet learned this lesson. Icheb decided it would not hurt to be gracious, however. Smiling, Icheb extended a hand of welcome and introduced himself.

"Oh, I know who you are. You're the drone with the Kirk fixation."

Before Icheb made the mistake of showing his annoyance, Seven intervened. "You would be wise to follow Icheb's example. By applying himself, he's become a valued member of this crew."

Rather than respond to her comment, Q said, "Can I see you naked again?"

Turning her back on Q and ignoring him for a moment, Seven went to a console and called up the lesson in spatial causality. Although even more annoyed at Q's rudeness to Seven than he was to the dig at himself, Icheb did his best to hide it. He knew Seven was fully capable of handling such a situation. While this introductory part of the lesson was one Icheb had already heard, he listened attentively, to serve as a role model to the Continuum pest. Besides, he was pleased at the way Seven had praised him. Seven was not generous with statements like this in Icheb's hearing (although Tom, Harry, and B'Elanna had all told Icheb she'd said similar things about him to them). He wasn't about to give any evidence to this Q that her statement might not have been true.

=/\=

Once the spatial causality lesson was over, Chakotay came by to bring Q to his next lesson in diplomacy. Once they were gone, Icheb turned to Seven and said, "I wonder if he learned anything from you today."

"Doubtful," she said archly. Icheb smiled before going back to the task he'd been forced to leave so that he could take part in the lesson. The next couple of hours passed pleasantly, and therefore, quickly. At lunchtime, Seven released him to go to the mess hall to obtain "nutritional supplementation." He had to smile again at that. Would Seven ever totally expunge the Borg from her behavior? He had to think it was doubtful.

Although Icheb hoped to find one of his friends to share his meal, when he walked into the mess hall, however, who should be there, dishing out the lunch entrée, but the young Q himself. He didn't seem very happy, and it was easy to see why. Neelix was being as loud and annoying as Neelix can be (who, Icheb had to admit, could be very annoying when he wanted to be). To Q's query, "Don't you ever stop?" Neelix only pretended to apologize.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot. My talking annoys you. Too bad you can't just shut me up again, huh?" Icheb saw him snap his fingers in Q's direction and then call out very loudly to one of the crew, while Q winced at the sound.

Because he had seen and heard what had just occurred, when Icheb approached Q, he wasn't shocked at the rude way he was addressed by the interloper. "If it isn't drone boy! You come to put me to sleep with another of your presentations?"

Icheb thought for a moment. He could be rude back if he wished, but really, Icheb viewed that sort of reaction as counterproductive. Q might only be a few years old, if the official logs documenting the previous encounters with the Continuum had been recorded accurately. Knowing the captain as he did, Icheb was sure they had been. That meant that however old this Q might look, his growth had been accelerated to an even greater extent than the Borg's maturation chambers had aged Icheb and his cohorts from the Children's Collective. He decided to offer the possibility of friendship instead. "Actually, I was wondering if you'd like to participate in some recreational activities."

"I don't have the time. Aunt Kathy's forcing me to write an historical essay on the Q Continuum," Q groaned.

"That's a challenging subject," Icheb agreed.

"I've never written an essay before! I don't know where to start!"

"The origin of the Q seems like the most logical place, followed by an analysis of their interaction with humanity. You could conclude with a description of the events that led you to _Voyager_ ," Icheb told him, trying to be helpful.

Q's face lit up. Icheb, "Would you mind writing some of those down for me?"

Pleased that he might be of assistance, which could promote a friendship with someone who was really closer in maturity level to Icheb than anyone else on _Voyager_ , Icheb offered to get a PADD to jot down an outline for Q's essay. If Q had never written one before, he naturally would need some guidance. Q seemed to be very grateful to Icheb for his help. It never occurred to Icheb that Q might have any ulterior motives in mind.

=/\=


	20. Lessons

=/\=

Icheb went to find Tom the next evening, intending to ask him if he'd finished the Yellowstone Park Trail program he'd promised to create for Naomi and Icheb. Naomi was especially looking forward to seeing Old Faithful and the other geysers Tom had promised to include.

Tom and B'Elanna were planning to have a quiet dinner in their quarters that night, but they invited Icheb to come by once they'd eaten. When Icheb arrived, he added, "I'd like to ask Q if he'd like to come along with us, if he's finished his essay for the captain."

"Oh, it's finished, all right," Tom said, with a strange expression on his face. "He presented it to the captain this afternoon. Icheb, did you write that essay for Q?"

"Oh, no. I just gave him some notes to get a start on it. He told me he'd never written an essay before, so he had no idea how to do it."

"Those 'notes' - were they written in full sentences, by chance?" B'Elanna asked.

"Well, yes, I guess so. I usually try to write that way whenever I write anything. For the practice. I've only spoken and written in Federation Standard for about a year now, you understand, just since I arrived on Voyager."

"Uh, huh," B'Elanna said, laughing. "And I'm sure you did your usual thorough job, too."

Icheb began to feel a little uncomfortable. "Why are you asking me this?"

"The captain came onto the bridge afterwards," Tom replied. "She told Chakotay that when Q read 'his' essay, she recognized your style. Q didn't write anything. He just read your notes."

"And Chakotay sent me to the holodeck this morning to check on the diplomatic program he'd set up for Q," B'Elanna added. "Q modified the personality subroutines governing the holographic characters to make them super friendly and come to an agreement quickly."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause Q trouble. I was only trying to help him."

"Oh, I'm sure that's all _you_ thought you were doing. He manipulated you into doing exactly what he wanted - so he could slide by without breaking a sweat," the pilot explained.

Icheb felt his face grow hot. That comment about Icheb's "Kirk fixation" - Q still had his powers then. "He must have heard my Early Starfleet History presentation to the captain. I included what Kirk did when he was a cadet at the Academy, when he modified a computer program to beat the Kobayashi Maru scenario. The 'unwinnable scenario' is a test of character. No one's supposed to be able to win it. That gave him the idea. It's my fault Q cheated."

B'Elanna stood up and put her arm on Icheb's shoulder. "No, it's not your fault. It's his. From what I hear, he didn't need any help in learning how to cheat. His father does it all the time!"

"What's going to happen to him? Is he going to be turned into an amoeba?"

"Who told you that?" Tom asked.

"The Doctor told me. That's what will happen to him if his behavior doesn't improve."

"Then he's fortunate his 'Aunt Kathy' is looking out for him," Tom replied. "She's giving him one more chance to prove he means he's willing to behave. The captain set him to work scrubbing plasma conduits this afternoon."

"He did a decent job of it, too," B'Elanna admitted. "But Icheb, be careful if he asks you to 'help' him again. The Q are master manipulators, and he's no exception. If he slips up, you may be the one to pay the price. Do you understand?"

"Yes, B'Elanna, I do," Icheb replied. He would still help Q if asked, but he wouldn't be quite so trusting next time.

=/\=

During a break in his schedule the following morning, Icheb ducked into the mess hall to pick up a snack on the way to a tutoring session with Naomi. Q was there, busily punching at a PADD. While Icheb was standing in front of the replicator (which was no longer recalcitrant about providing the comestible ordered by a crew member), Q got off the couch and approached Icheb. "I'm sorry I pretended I wrote what you gave me, Icheb. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the captain knew immediately you wrote it."

"Lieutenant Paris always says not much gets by the captain."

"He's right. She knew I'd modified Chakotay's diplomatic holodeck program, too. She was going to make me stay in my quarters until my father came back. I had to beg her to let me continue my training. She said she would, as long as I cooperated with the program. If I step out of line again, though, it's eternity in a petri dish for me - or 'circular city,' as my father put it."

"I'm pleased the captain is giving you another chance. As long as you don't try to trick me into writing any more essays for you, I'm willing to help you adjust to life on _Voyager_. I know how hard it can be. I had to do it after Seven saved me from the Borg cube."

"Oh, no, I won't try to trick you into anything again. I'm rewriting my essay now. Aunt Kathy didn't ask me to do it, but I thought I owed it to her for letting me stay."

"You know, Q, you'll do a much better job than I did. I researched the Continuum in our database, but no one in the Federation really knows what it's like the way you do."

Q was silent for a few seconds, then said, "I think I've underestimated you, Icheb. Maybe all the people on this ship, too. You're not stupid . . . wait. That didn't come out right . . ."

"I heard you said you were on an 'antiquated flying machine run by primates.' I guess from the Continuum's perspective, that's true. But we aren't stupid." Icheb grinned to soften his comment.

"Where did you hear that?" Q asked, visibly agitated.

"We have a very active gossip network on _Voyager_. Naomi Wildman likes to say, 'it's a small ship.' She's right. If you don't want anyone to hear something you've said, don't say it at all."

"I'll have to remember that."

"Well, Q, I'll leave you to your work. I'm on my way to give a lesson to Naomi, but I have to speak to one of my tutors about something else first."

Q waved his hand awkwardly as he sat back down on the couch. Icheb decided it was Q's attempt to wave good-bye and returned the gesture. Grabbing his nutritional nachos and shake from the replicator, Icheb left the mess hall, intending to ask for a favor from one of his own tutors.

=/\=

Once Icheb was in the corridor outside the mess hall, he contacted Tom and asked him when Tom had scheduled Icheb's next piloting lesson.

"I'm here in Sickbay until noon, but I'm off after that. We can do it anytime this afternoon. B'Elanna will be in Engineering working until 1800 - at least."

"I have to give Naomi a genetics lesson now, but if you take me out in the _Delta Flyer_ this afternoon, can Q come along? I think he's really trying to cooperate with the captain. I just saw him. He's rewriting his essay for her right now."

"Maybe he is," Tom mused. "I hope so. I'll need to get clearance from Chakotay to use the _Flyer_ for the lesson. If he says it's okay, I'll let you know. As long as Q-boy agrees to behave himself, he can come along."

"Thanks, Lieutenant Paris."

Tom laughed. "I'm back to Lieutenant Paris now?"

"When you're my Academy teacher, then yes. I have to set a good example for Q."

"I understand, Cadet Icheb. As soon as I get clearance, we'll schedule a time to meet."

Icheb was certain Tom would work things out with Chakotay. When he really thought about it, the lesson in spatial causality had been more stimulating than usual, and not just because he already knew most of what Seven had covered. It was kind of nice having someone else "in class" with him yesterday.

=/\=

Icheb was about to enter the mess hall but stopped when he overheard the captain say, "I, Q: An Insider's View of the Continuum. "

Q answered, "I know you didn't ask for one, but I felt I owed it to you for giving me a second chance."

After a brief pause, Captain Janeway said, "If the essay is half as clever as the title, I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

Icheb entered the mess hall after her comment and said to Q, "Lieutenant Paris has offered to give me a piloting lesson. I thought you might like to join us."

Resignedly, Q said, "Oh, thanks, but I have to help Crewman Chell scrub the plasma conduits." Having scrubbed plasma conduits in the past himself, Icheb was familiar with the distasteful task. He was disappointed Q would miss going out on the _Flyer_. He was sure he'd enjoy it.

The captain was in an expansive mood, however. "I think you've earned a break. This is the only time off I'm giving you," she warned him. "I suggest you take advantage of it."

"Yes, ma'am," Q said eagerly as he followed Icheb out the door. "Piloting lesson, huh? Where are we going?"

"Lieutenant Paris will pick out something interesting," Icheb assured him.

=/\=

"Steady. Ease up a little on the thrusters," Tom said, from his position in back of the pilot's seat Icheb was currently occupying. Icheb did as he was instructed, and just in time. On inertia alone, the _Delta Flyer_ whizzed a little too close to a chunk of rock almost as big as the shuttle. If the thrusters had still been at the level they'd been before Icheb had eased off the controls, the little craft's shields might easily have collided with it. While that alone shouldn't have damaged the shuttle, if the asteroid's established path through the asteroid field had been altered, the rock might have rammed into another of the bodies. A chain reaction, uncomfortably like the cue ball breaking the massed balls on the pool table at Sandrine's, could have been the result. And that would have complicated Icheb's piloting through the field immeasurably.

Q, in the co-pilot's seat, had already been a little apprehensive when Tom instructed Icheb to fly them through the asteroid belt. This almost-collision was a bit too close for comfort for him, and he reminded Icheb, "In case you forgot, I'm mortal now. I'd appreciate it if you didn't pilot us into a rock."

Icheb had enjoyed a sufficient number of Lieutenant Paris's piloting lessons that he wasn't nervous. He had already decided he had to ease up on the thrusters before Tom mentioned it to him, but he wasn't offended by the advice offered by the expert pilot. After successfully dodging a few more rocks, Icheb flew the craft where the rocks were much further apart and suggested, "Maybe Q could take over for a little while."

"What do you say? You want a turn at the wheel?" Tom asked Q.

"Ordinarily, a Q wouldn't demean himself by operating primitive machinery," Q airily commented, in that know-it-all tone a Q often utilized to beings they considered their inferiors (which was just about everyone), but he had trouble maintaining his superior attitude. A little too eagerly, he tacked on, "but these aren't ordinary circumstances."

At Tom's nod of agreement, Q switched places with Icheb. Almost immediately, an alert sounded. "Uh, did I do something wrong?" Q asked, as he looked over the control panel to try to identify the cause of the alarm.

After checking several readouts, Tom reassured them, "Just a little imbalance in the impulse drive. Nothing to worry about."

"It's very distracting. Can't you fix it?" Q asked.

"Well, I could, but we'd have to go back to _Voyager_ and run diagnostics. If you two don't mind cutting your lesson a little short . . ."

Q and Icheb exchanged glances. "That won't be necessary," Q answered. "In fact, I can barely hear it anymore." Looking towards the co-pilot's seat, he asked Icheb, "Do you hear it?"

What's a little honking in your ear if you're having fun? With the slightest of smirks, Icheb responded, "Hear what?"

Icheb glanced back at Tom's chuckle. He was grinning, so Icheb knew there really wasn't any malfunction endangering them at the moment. He had to admit it was nice to have a chance to spend a lesson with someone who was a lot closer to his age than Naomi and Aimee were. Icheb thought he could get used to having a buddy on _Voyager_. It was unfortunate Q would be leaving them soon, if the Continuum accepted that he really had become a more disciplined Q. He didn't want Q to fail, however. If Q's father and the Continuum weren't happy with his progress, he'd be turned into an Oprelian amoeba. Icheb didn't want that to happen to his new friend.

=/\=

Icheb had hoped to work on the _Delta Flyer_ for a while with Tom and Q once they arrived back on _Voyager_. He was sure Q would be less derisive of their "antiquated flying machines" if he had a chance to do a little maintenance work on one. Icheb knew performing hands-on repairs to _Voyager_ had enhanced his appreciation of Federation's technology. Just before they approached _Voyager's_ shuttlebay, however, the captain contacted the _Flyer_ and requested Q's presence in her ready room once they arrived. She had a "surprise" for him.

"I hope it doesn't have anything to do with petri dishes," Q said waspishly.

Tom snickered, "I wouldn't worry about that, Q. I've had the dubious pleasure of being called on the carpet by the captain on multiple occasions. The captain's tone of voice is much too cheery for anything unpleasant. Maybe it's good news from the Continuum."

"Doubtful. If it was, my father would have flashed right on board the _Delta Flyer_ and whisked me off on an adventure. "

"Just stay positive," Tom advised. Icheb nodded his agreement. "Now, do you want to fly her into the shuttlebay entrance, or do you want Icheb or me to take over?"

"Just tell me what to do, Lieutenant Paris," Q said confidently. Icheb was glad to see Q's spirits revive quickly, once Tom gave him the chance to exhibit what he'd learned on this flight. He noted, however, that Tom had surreptitiously activated the homing protocol, which provided extra shielding around and inside the bay entrance, providing an extra layer of protection to both ships when an injured pilot was at the controls. Q didn't need to know that, though.

=/\=


	21. Q-Ball and Itchy

=/\=

Icheb looked for Q in the mess hall during dinner hour, but there was no sign of him.

During the meal, Tom and Harry invited Icheb to come to Sandrine's with them afterwards for an impromptu pool tournament. Since Sandrine considered Icheb a "boy" who was too young to enter her establishment without "adult supervision," he accepted without hesitation. "Do you think we should invite Q?" Icheb asked.

"You can invite him if you want to, as long as he hasn't had his Q powers restored. I'd like to see what he can do on with his own hand-eye coordination and muscle control," Tom commented.

When Icheb tried to contact him through the comm system, Q didn't respond. Icheb decided to go to Q's quarters to invite him in person. As he approached Q's door, he worried a bit about what type of Q attitude he might encounter. Was he still being cooperative and friendly? Or did the captain's summons signal that something had gone wrong after all?

When Icheb initially activated Q's chime, there was no response from the occupant. Icheb knew he was in his quarters, since he'd checked via the computer prior to walking there. When he activated the chime a second time, he called out, "Q, it's me - Icheb. Are you there?"

The door swished open. "Yeah, I'm here," Q answered.

Icheb walked in, disconcerted by the sad tone of Q's answer. "Are you all right?"

"As all right as a potential Oprelian amoeba can be," Q shot back.

"I don't understand. You're doing so well."

Q gestured for Icheb to take the seat near his desk. Q remained sitting on his bunk, elbows on his knees, rubbing his hands together lightly. "The captain agrees with you. My father, not so much."

Icheb sat down heavily on the chair. "Your father was with the captain?"

"Oh, yes, he was there. Checking up on me, apparently. The captain praised my 'attitude adjustment' and the progress I'd been making in my training. My father wasn't at all impressed. She told him she liked my essay and had me read it out loud to them. When I was finished, she asked my father what he thought. He said it was 'nice.' He liked the part about the Continuum."

"But the whole essay was about the Continuum."

"Exactly. He hated it."

Icheb didn't know what to say. Maybe Q's father hadn't paid attention to the reading, but that was an indictment in itself. If he was so concerned a parent, shouldn't he have been paying attention? As demanding as Seven could be, or Captain Janeway, they actually listened to him whenever he had an issue of some kind. "Well, uh . . ." he finally managed.

"It's all right. You don't have to say anything." Q stood up and walked around to the other side of his bed. "When I saw how unimpressed he was with what the captain was saying, I made my excuses. I said I was late for a temporal mechanics lesson."

"We aren't having that lesson until tomorrow morning."

"He doesn't know that. He could if he wanted to, but he won't bother to find out. I know how he is. He's impossible to please. I came back here to my quarters when I left the ready room. The captain came here to see me after my father left. _SHE_ knew I wasn't in a temporal mechanics lesson. She tried to make me feel better, but what's the use? If my father doesn't think I'm up to being a Q, the rest of the Continuum is going to be just as unimpressed. My next essay - if I ever get a chance to write one - is going to be entitled, 'Life as an Amoeba,' by Q Junior."

"I'm sorry, Q." Icheb didn't know what else to say. "Maybe the Continuum will let you stay here as a human, if they won't take you back as a Q."

"The captain said she'd try to convince them to let me stay here as a human, but I really want to be a Q, like my father. Can you understand that?"

"I do understand. But living on Voyager as a human is better than swimming around in a petri dish. At least you can pilot the Delta Flyer every now and then. You can come to Sandrine's and play pool with us sometimes, too. That's what I came here for, by the way. You're invited to come to Sandrine's with Tom and Harry and me to play pool. Maybe hitting a cue ball around will help you forget your troubles."

"Thanks for the offer, Icheb, but . . . hey, why not? It's better than sitting in here moping about spending eternity in 'circular city.'"

=/\=

That night, Q did seem to ignore whatever fate the Continuum would decide for him. Tom and Harry won the pool tournament, to no one's surprise, but Q assured Icheb he'd had a very good time. They sat around after it was over, and Tom regaled them with stories about his "misspent youth" hot rodding in his family's old hovercraft with a few of his friends, until he splashed it into Lake Tahoe. "It's probably still down there," Tom laughed. "I had to do all sorts of odd jobs to pay my father back for losing it."

When Harry mentioned a pool player named "Minnesota Fats," Tom explained that guys hanging out in pool halls often had nicknames. The rest of the night, they came up with humorous or outrageous names for the four of them.

The next morning, in their temporal mechanics class, Seven discussed Captain Braxton and the Federation Temporal Police. "Generally, when a time stream is changed, the old one disappears from memory. Before I came on board, Voyager was accidentally sent back to the twentieth century. Later, the ship was returned by Captain Braxton to the same place and time in the Delta Quadrant it had been when the incident began. However, the crew remembered what happened, and our EMH obtained his mobile emitter during the adventure. This technology was retrieved from a timeship that originated five centuries in the future. What reason could the Federation Temporal Police have had to allow all this to happen?"

The discussion was lively. Icheb remembered some facts about time travel from his Borg knowledge, and Q had some things to say about the subject from the Continuum's perspective. They finally decided that the mobile emitter had to be delivered to the 24th century from the 29th, but why was still a mystery. When the class was ending, Icheb remarked, "It will be best if we don't mention this to the Doctor, Seven. His ego is big enough as it is ."

Seven agreed.

=/\=

Icheb was checking relays in a Jeffries tube down in deck 14 the following morning when he heard a voice call out, "Itchy, are you in here? Itchy?"

"What can I do for you, Q-Ball?" Icheb answered, using another of the nicknames they'd come up with after the pool tournament in Sandrine's.

"I need your help." As Q descended the Jeffries tube ladder, Icheb folded up the tricorder he was using and stood up. "Remember that ion imbalance Lieutenant Paris mentioned during our lesson?" When Icheb nodded that he did, Q said, "We're going to repair it for him."

"Did you get permission?" Icheb asked.

"Well, that would ruin the surprise."

"The surprise?!"

"The captain's been encouraging me to take more initiative. I want to show her I can do things for others without being asked," Q explained.

Icheb considered the proposal for a moment before saying, "I'll help you on one condition."

"Name it."

"You won't refer to me as 'Itchy' in front of the senior officers."

With a smile, Q agreed. It was a good thing. Tom had told Icheb that he should call his friend Scratchy if Q kept calling him Itchy. Icheb thanked Tom politely, but decided he preferred the reference to a pool hall, instead of to an obscure, ancient cartoon.

=/\=

An hour later, the task was nearing completion. "I've realigned the last pair of power couplings. You can start the pre-ignition sequence," Icheb said from the rear of the _Delta Flyer_.

"Understood." Q flipped several switches to activate the sequence.

Icheb listened for a moment, checking the readouts on the panel and his tricorder. "I'm not detecting any ion fluctuations. We did it!" He glanced forward to Q, who was sitting in the pilot's seat, and smiled. "You can power down the engine now."

Q hit more of the controls, but instead of turning down the power, the engine revved up. Concerned, Icheb took to his feet and moved towards the front of the _Flyer_. "Q? What are you doing?"

Q enthusiastically responded, "You're going to love this. I once learned how to open a spatial flexure using nothing more than a deflector array."

"A 'flexure'?"

Confidently, Q told him, "It's like a tunnel through space. I'm going to open one to the Clevari system. Just wait until you see the females. They're spectacular!"

Soberly, Icheb reminded him, "We need the captain's permission to leave _Voyager_."

"Do you think she'd give it to us?"

"NO!"

"Then there's no point in asking," Q responded offhandedly.

"You've been doing so well," Icheb said. "Why break the rules now?"

"I'm bored."

Icheb had known Q for long enough to recognize something else was going on. He didn't want to become involved in an unauthorized joy ride in the Delta Flyer, though. "Icheb to Security."

"They can't hear you. I've dampened all outgoing communications."

Icheb started to move forward, but before he managed to reach the _Flyer's_ Tactical station, he was stopped by a shield raised by Q.

"Just sit back, Itchy. Enjoy the ride." Q lifted the _Delta Flyer_ from the shuttlebay floor, blasted through the doors, and flew the shuttle out of _Voyager_.

Although he already had a suspicion, Icheb asked, "What's the real reason you're doing this?"

"I'm getting out of here before my father can put me back in that petri dish."

"The Q are omniscient. They'll find you."

"I may not have my powers anymore, but I know lots of nooks and crannies we can hide in." Icheb suddenly stumbled when the _Flyer_ was rocked by the application of _Voyager's_ tractor beam. Chuckling softly, Q muttered, "They're so predictable," as he busily manipulated the shuttle's controls.

"Q, the captain isn't going to let us get away with this. Please, let's go back," Icheb implored.

"Don't worry, Itchy. I've got this." The _Delta Flyer_ broke free of the tractor beam and sailed through the rift.

=/\=


	22. Collateral Damage

=/\=

As the shuttle flew out of the flexure, a gleeful Q informed Icheb, "Welcome to the Clevari system." He rose from the pilot's seat and approached the shield barrier to address Icheb face-to-face. "What would you like to do first? Take a dip with the mermaids of Golos Prime? Challenge the Warrior Goddess of Fekdar to a grappling contest?" From the way Junior wiggled his fingers when he said the word "grappling," Icheb suspected he had more on his mind than a simple wrestling match.

"What I _WANT_ is to return to _Voyager_ ," Icheb stated firmly.

"Forget that dreary ship, with its rules and regulations. We can do anything we want here."

Icheb earnestly replied, "Go back to _Voyager_. Apologize to the captain. She'll help you."

"It's too late. She said one more violation and I'd be thrown off her ship. I'm pretty sure this qualifies." Q's tirade was interrupted by loud beeping, coming from the pilot's station.

"What's wrong?" Icheb asked.

"There's a vessel approaching," Q said, as a huge ship maneuvered itself into position over the _Delta Flyer_.

The image of an alien, every facial plane as sharply edged as a crystal, appeared in the _Flyer's_ viewscreen. "You're trespassing in Chokuzan space," the alien announced.

Activating the outgoing communication function he'd shut off before they left _Voyager_ and making a stab at innocence, Q replied contritely, "We were just leaving."

"Our laws require that you be incarcerated, pending an investigation," the alien stated severely.

"How long will that take?"

The alien ignored Q's query. "Disengage you're engines and prepare to be boarded." The viewscreen went blank. Further talk was apparently not an option.

"We should do as he says," Icheb advised.

"Why? Just because he has a bigger ship?"

"Because Captain Janeway has taught us to respect the laws of other cultures," Icheb replied.

Gruffly, Q said, "I should have known better than to bring you along." Ignoring Icheb's plea, he fired on the Chokuzan vessel and wheeled the _Flyer_ away, speeding towards the flexure.

"You're going to get us killed!" Icheb warned.

"Did you expect me to surrender? He might have locked us up for years!"

"You don't know that," Icheb reasoned. Any chance he might be able to change Q's mind was ruined when the _Flyer_ was hit by weapons fire originating from the Chokuzan vessel.

"There's no time for debate! I need you at Tactical." Q quickly removed the shield barrier, freeing Icheb. Clearly, Q did need help. Icheb slid into the Tactical station seat.

"Shields are down to 30%," Icheb announced. After another volley shook the shuttle, Icheb corrected himself: "16%." The cabin of the _Delta Flyer_ began to fill with acrid smoke.

Q's response was not comforting to Icheb. "I'm opening another Flexure. We'll go to the Zozek system. The girls aren't as attractive, but we have to make _some_ compromises."

The Chokuzan vessel continued firing on the _Flyer_ as Q steered the shuttle into the Flexure.

The air around Icheb was suddenly filled with tendrils of energy. Vaguely, he was aware it was coming from the Tactical station. As Icheb's body hit the floor, he heard Q cry out, "Icheb!"

Icheb's cranial implants blazed with heat. His thoughts were scrambled. He couldn't hear or see or think anything other than this must be what death felt like. And then he knew no more.

=/\=

Apparently he wasn't dead, or at least, he didn't seem to be dead. Icheb could feel a surface beneath him. He heard people. The captain. Q. And another voice, one he didn't recognize. Icheb couldn't open his eyes, or speak, or even move his little finger, but he could hear them shouting something. Gradually, the words began to make a glimmer of sense.

"Is this a bad time?" the stranger asked.

"Tell him!" the captain growled.

Q began to speak. "Icheb stole a shuttle from _Voyager_. I tried to stop him, but he kidnapped me! And he started a fight with another ship!"

Wait. That wasn't right. Icheb tried to speak but still couldn't. He wished he had his cortical node so he could contact Seven and tell her it wasn't that way; but if he still had his node, she wouldn't be here. She'd be dead. That wouldn't be good.

But then he heard the captain speak up for Icheb. "HE stole the shuttle, and HE attacked the other vessel." Icheb could tell she was accusing Q, not Icheb.

"Is that true, son?" the stranger asked. So, this other voice must belong to Q's father, Q. How confusing, Icheb thought. If everyone was Q, how could they tell one from the other?

His thoughts were interrupted by the Q he knew. "Please, Q. Just save him."

"Don't be absurd," the other Q answered.

"You're not going to help him?"

"Like Aunt Kathy said, you're never going to learn anything if you don't face the consequences of your actions. If your little playmate has to die to teach you a lesson, so be it."

As a red light flashed briefly through his closed lids, Icheb decided he didn't like this other Q. Even though his friend had turned him into an immobile, half-dead hunk of flesh, Borg implants, and circuitry, if this is the way his father treated Q, he could understand why he had had so much trouble adjusting to life on _Voyager_. This other Q would let Icheb finish dying just to teach his son a lesson? What kind of father did something like that? What a jerk!

"I know you can hear me, Q! Come back! Q!" Q - his Q - Q-Ball called out.

The voice Icheb thought must be Q's father's was silent. That red light - that must be when he flashed away, the way the Q were said to do. Icheb heard the captain say, "You're wasting your time." Oh, no! Was the captain giving up on him now?

"He's the only one who can save Icheb!" Q exclaimed.

"No, he isn't. You're going to go back to that ship you attacked. You're going to apologize for what you did, and you're going to plead with them for the information we need to save Icheb."

"Look at what they did to Icheb! If I go back, they'll do the same to me."

"What do you care? Tomorrow, you'll be an amoeba." So, the Doctor must be here, too. That was his vocal subroutine speaking.

"Well, I'd rather be an amoeba than a corpse!" Q exclaimed.

A calmer-sounding Captain Janeway said smoothly, "That would be easier, wouldn't it? No expectations to live up to. No one to disappoint."

When he heard Q's reply, the voice came from somewhere just above Icheb. Of course. Icheb must be on a biobed in Sickbay. "I'm a failure as a Q and a human. If I'm a single-celled organism, at least I can't hurt anybody."

"Why did you come back here?" the captain asked.

"To escape the Chokuzan," Q answered, but the voice didn't sound as sure of itself as usual.

The captain confronted him again. "You could have used your technology to take you anywhere, but you came back here to us. Why?"

"I probably hit the wrong control," Q said. Icheb couldn't help but feel disappointed at this glib answer. He thought Q was his friend. But after a moment, Q spoke again, and this time, his voice was filled with remorse. "Icheb is the only friend I've ever had. I brought him back here because I thought you could save him." After a pause, he added, "Obviously, I was mistaken!"

Icheb heard the Doctor's "hrrmph!" That last comment must have been directed towards him.

"The only mistake you made was running away. You have a chance to do the right thing now. Don't waste it," the captain insisted.

Q didn't answer. Icheb wished he could see them, but, of course, his eyes were still sealed shut, and he couldn't move. He was barely able to breathe. All he could do was lie there as he began to hear the voice of Seven, shouting imprecations at Q. He didn't know where she'd been earlier. He was sure he would had heard her if she'd been in Sickbay before.

Icheb was very tired of all the drama. He really didn't want to die, but he didn't want to hear any more screaming, either. And then the screaming faded away.

=/\=


	23. The Decree of the Q

=/\=

When Icheb became aware of voices again, none of them sounded like Q's. Either Q. Seven was insisting they inject the nanoprobes she'd prepared to counteract omicron radiation into Icheb.

"We still don't know what we're dealing with, Seven," the Doctor answered. "His readings keep fluctuating. I'm not sure we really are dealing with omicron radiation poisoning."

"We have to do something or Icheb will die!" Seven yelled.

"Do you have to yell?" Icheb groaned.

He found he could open his eyes again. Instead of the ceiling, he found himself looking into the very blue eyes of Tom Paris. Mr. Paris here, since they were in Sickbay.

"Well, well, well. He's back," Tom said, passing a medical tricorder over Icheb's body. "And he really IS back. There's no sign of any radiation damage at all. Maybe some minor frying of a few Borg circuits, but otherwise, he seems . . . fine." Tom sounded more and more puzzled as he continued speaking.

"That's impossible!" the Doctor insisted, rushing to his scanning apparatus.

Seven stepped close enough to grab Icheb by the hand. In a soft voice, she asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Well. I'm feeling very well," he answered, starting to rise into a sitting position.

"Please remain in a prone position while I finish my scans," the Doctor ordered. "And Seven of Nine, remove your hand from his. You're distorting my readings."

Seven sighed deeply but did as ordered. Tom winked at Icheb, which reassured Icheb that there really wasn't anything seriously wrong with him.

Eventually, the Doctor "harrumphed" again and said, "Mr. Paris's diagnosis appears to be accurate. Seven, your nanoprobe therapy is unnecessary. Icheb's own nanoprobes appear to have repaired most of the damage to his circuitry. You can sit up now, Icheb, but I want you to remain in Sickbay for a few more hours under my care. We don't want you to have a relapse."

"What was the problem, Doctor?" Icheb asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea. Nor do I understand why you've made a miraculous recovery. The captain and Q haven't come back yet with the information we needed on the weapon which caused your injuries. Or thought we needed, I suppose I should say." The Doctor was not pleased.

"Maybe it was more Q fun and games," Tom observed archly.

Afterwards, of course, they were to learn that's exactly what had happened.

=/\=

"So it was your father in that ship that shot at us? Not a Chokruzan officer?"

Icheb was still in Sickbay, but he'd gained the Doctor's grudging permission to sit in the EMH's chair in his office instead of lying around on a biobed. Q was sitting on the edge of the desk.

"Yes, it was dear old Dad. It was a little 'test' of his. Since I took responsibility for my actions and was willing to sacrifice myself to save you, he said I passed with 'flying colors.' He thought the captain's training exercises were 'pathetic' and wouldn't impress the Continuum."

"I guess it must have, since you're here speaking with me like a human, not an amoeba."

"They really weren't that impressed. When I faced the three Continuum judges, Captain Janeway stood with my father and me to support us. I'm grateful to her for that. The head judge said the Continuum didn't feel I'd made sufficient progress to warrant the reinstatement of my powers, since I was the one who endangered your life in the first place. But I wasn't changed into an amoeba. She said I had to 'suffer the next worst fate' - remaining human."

"Are you going to stay on _Voyager_ then?"

"Well, no. After the judge's decree, my father was outraged, so he flashed away. I didn't think he was coming back for me this time. I was asking the captain if she'd allow me to remain on board to finish my training. Being a member of this crew wouldn't be that bad."

"Better than living in a petri dish," Icheb observed.

"A LOT better than that!" Q laughed. "But this is better. Before she'd given me her answer . . ."

"You know she would have let you stay."

"I know. Despite all my mistakes, she would have given me another chance. But then my father showed up again. He'd left us so he could appeal the Continuum's decision. He said he refused to remain in a Continuum that refused to accept his son as a member! We were a 'package deal.'"

"He left the Continuum?"

"Of course not. He said they 'crumbled like a Gelbian sand sculpture' and agreed to give me my powers back!"

Icheb sighed sadly at the news. "I'm happy for you, Q-Ball, really, I am; but I would have liked it if you'd stayed around for a while. It was fun having someone my age around."

"You almost died," Q pointed out.

"Well, yes, almost. But I didn't. And it hasn't been boring with you around, Q-Ball."

"I'm going to miss you, too, Itchy. We could've had a lot of fun on Golos Prime if my father didn't pull that trick on us."

"Maybe, but I like following the rules and regulations of Starfleet."

"That's the Borg in you talking. The No-Fun Automaton People."

"I guess you can try to take the Borg out of the boy, but you can't ever fully succeed," Icheb agreed, smiling at his friend. He really would miss Q-Ball.

"Well, anyway, I stopped by to apologize to you for everything that happened, and for all the mean things I said to you. And I wanted to make sure you really were all right. My father said you were, but I had to see for myself."

"Yes, I really am all right. The Doctor is just being cautious. If Seven catches you here with me, though, she'll probably yell at you. You don't want to get a Borg mad at you."

"Ah, the sublime Seven of Nine! I'll treasure the memory of her divine form forever!" Q smiled reminiscently. "And that reminds me, I really do need to get going. My father asked me to meet him on Golos Prime. We'll do a little female watching while we're there, if you know what I mean." Q wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Icheb shook his head. Incorrigible.

More seriously, Q said, "Icheb, I really am sorry I endangered you."

"Apology accepted," Icheb replied.

A contemplative expression came over Q's face. "You know, Itchy, the Q are supposedly omnipotent, but I think they've all got a lot to learn from people like you. I hope we get a chance to get together again sometime. Maybe you can teach me how to become a valued member of _Voyager's_ crew, like you are."

This was one of the nicest things Q had ever said to him. Before he could think of a reply, a flash of light appeared in the doorway. Not Q again! In a shocked tone of voice, Q identified her to Icheb. "It's the main judge from the tribunal!"

The judge declared, "Well, I'm glad to see at least part of our plan worked!"

Her judicial robes and headgear melted away. The face changed, and another female Q appeared. She was much taller and prettier, with long dark hair and a perpetually amused expression.

"Mom! " Q declared. "What are you doing here? I thought you disowned me!"

"Is that what your father told you? Just like him to twist things. No, I didn't disown _YOU_ , I disowned _HIM_ for the irresponsible way he was goading you into growing up to be just like him. He does have his good points - occasionally - but he does his best to hide them! He insisted on taking custody of you. You can see what a disaster that's been."

"But couldn't you have visited me every now and then?"

"I _am_ sorry about that, Q. The truth is, I've visited you quite often. According to the custody agreement, I wasn't allowed to show myself to you when I did. I was one of those paramecia swimming around with you in your petri dish, you know. I managed to escape just before you smashed it under your foot. It's a good thing you didn't get around to eating me, or your little Oprelian amoeba self would have had a _terrible_ case of indigestion." She stopped and shook her head in disgust. "There I go again. I'm going off on a tangent. It happens whenever I'm talking about something your father's done. Where was I? Oh, yes. I had to keep out of sight because of the terms of the custody agreement. I only went along with _that_ because I knew I had to give your father a chance to mess things up because of his incompetence. Fortunately, the plan worked out, thanks to Captain Janeway - and to you, Cadet Icheb. You didn't know the plan, but you both acted in just the way the Continuum expected."

"You had a plan?" Q asked, obviously confused by what his mother was telling him.

"Of course. What good is omniscience if you never bother to join it with common sense every now and then?" The female Q's mouth twisted into a sardonic smile. "We had to see if you _could_ be taught, since it's obvious your father can't be. Almost killing your friend? Turning you into an amoeba? Refusing to give you any credit for that essay you wrote - especially since the captain didn't ask you to rewrite it and you did it on your own initiative? _I'm_ proud of you, my dear. That's taking responsibility for your own actions. I _HOPE_ this experience will teach you to be a more responsible Q. How else to . . . how did Commander Chakotay put that to you again? About the responsibilities of the Q?"

"You mean that we're supposed to maintain order in the universe?"

"That's it exactly. And what, may I ask, is the most disruptive force preventing the maintenance of order in the universe?"

Icheb couldn't help himself. He immediately thought, the Q. Or one of them, at least.

Q's mother turned towards Icheb, raised her brow, and smiled at him. "I heard that. You're absolutely right," she said.

Q sighed and finally gave his mother the same answer that had occurred to Icheb. "An out-of-control Q. You're talking about my father, aren't you?"

His mother put her hand on her son's shoulder. "I'm afraid I am, Q. I trust you're up to the task the Continuum has insisted upon. The appeals court just told your father he's supposed to stay with you and supervise you for all eternity. He's telling Captain Janeway that right now. But it's really the other way around. You were born to save the Continuum."

"So I've heard all my life, but I'm no savior. Haven't I just proved that by the way I've acted this past week?"

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You were willing to be taught and passed the test. You _are_ going to save the Continuum, and the way you're going to do it is by supervising your father. Your task is to keep him from bothering all the inhabitants of the universe, especially the humans. Most of the time, that is. He's hopeless. You'll be very busy, but the Continuum understands how hard that's going to be. They believe you're up to it now. So do I."

Momentarily stunned, Q considered the task ahead. "That's a very tall order, Mom." Turning to Icheb, he said, "It looks like I won't be able to visit you very often after all, Icheb. I guess the adventures of Itchy and Q-Ball are over."

"Oh, I think we can let you off for a vacation from your father every now and then. Bur right now, aren't you due to meet him at Golos Prime?"

"Ah, yes. I guess I'd better go."

"Before you do . . ." His mother held out her arms and pulled her son to her, giving him a very firm hug and a kiss. "We know you can't keep him from harassing all the lovelies on Golos Prime, but do your best to curb the excesses . . . and the silliness that always goes with it!"

He smiled. "I'll certainly try! Ciao, Icheb. Until next time."

"Until next time," Icheb answered.

The words had barely escaped from his mouth before Q disappeared in a flash of light. Icheb turned to the female Q, expecting to say good-bye to her, too, before she flashed away, but she put up her hand. "Before I go, Icheb, I have something to say to you. Again, I must thank you. One of the reasons I was willing to go along with this plan of the Continuum's was the way Captain Janeway has handled the situation with Seven of Nine and with you. You're both turning out very well. Responsible. Considering what your parents did to you, and then what the Borg tried to do, you're a remarkable person."

Icheb felt his face warming into a blush. "It's mostly Seven's doing," he said softly.

"Not entirely. No false modesty, now! You were forced to grow up much too soon, but even when you were a half-drone who didn't know who or what he was, you were thoughtful. You didn't jump to conclusions, and you made decisions that were good, not only for you, but for the rest of the little Borglets. Except for the one you called First, of course, but that was his fault, not yours. You would have saved him if he hadn't refused to follow your advice. Because of the way you've already handled the trials you've undergone, I thought this could work. I wasn't disappointed. My son is right. You're just as worthy a teacher as your captain."

"Didn't you expect this all to happen _this_ way?" Icheb said, smiling slightly. "The Q are omniscient, aren't they?"

"The Continuum likes to think so. I know better. Our supposed omniscience doesn't protect us from making mistakes. I _hope_ we've solved the problem of my wayward partner Q. We shall see. I _will_ be around helping my son, though. I promise you that. And I'll let him come see you every now and then while you're at the Academy. And afterwards, too."

"He may have to visit me here on _Voyager_ , then. It's going to take us a long time to get to the Alpha Quadrant. I'll probably be graduated from the Academy and an officer on _Voyager_ by the time we arrive."

"Oh, it might not take you all _that_ long. If your captain does the 'homework' Q just gave her, she might discover a shortcut home very soon."

Icheb shrugged his shoulders, not quite sure what to say. The female Q smiled warmly at him and held out her arms to hug Icheb in the same manner she'd just embraced her son - although he was relieved she skipped the kiss. "Thank you, again, Icheb, for all you've done for my Q. I think he'll do well. I know you will."

Q's mother twitched a little. Icheb assumed she was going to do that same flashing light thing that seemed to be the way a Q moved around the universe, but she stopped and smiled at him. "Oh, one more piece of advice, Icheb. That research you were doing on nanoviruses? The ones your captain and that spunky B'Elanna Torres used when they invaded the Borg cube to save the drones who went to Unimatrix Zero? You might want to continue working on them. The pathogen-creating DNA your parents introduced into your genome might be something you'd want to experiment with, too. Pathogens, nanoviruses - they might be modified into a weapon against the Borg Queen one day. You never know."

For a nanosecond, Icheb felt like he did when those tendrils of energy erupted from the Delta Flyer's Tactical console - but in a good way. The Doctor, Seven, and Icheb had been experimenting with the things Q had suggested, but they'd never thought to consider using both of them at the same time to create a weapon against the Borg. Q's mom must have read his thoughts again, because her mouth twisted into an amused half-smile. She bobbed her head ever so slightly, but it was enough. Icheb was on the right track.

Suddenly there was another flash of light. Icheb was alone again, standing in the Doctor's Sickbay office. All the Q's were apparently gone - for now - but they'd left Icheb with much to ponder, and even more to investigate.

Icheb was acutely aware of something else, an emptiness deep inside him. It was strange. Despite all the trouble Q-Ball had caused, and how short a time had passed since he left to meet up with his father on Golos Prime, Icheb already missed him. Spending time with a buddy, even a wild and crazy one like Q-Ball, had given Icheb a taste of what his life might have been like if he were a teenager living on Earth. It was an experience he hoped he'd never forget.

=/\=


	24. Project Watson

=/\=

When Icheb entered the mess hall that evening, the entire room seemed to be vibrating. The noise level was unusually loud; the accumulated voices of the crew was pitched higher than on most evenings. Everyone was excited by the prospect that direct contact with the Alpha Quadrant would no longer be restricted to once a month. Thanks to Seven, Harry Kim, Reg Barclay, and the rest of the Project Pathfinder team, they'd developed a method allowing daily contact between _Voyager_ and the Alpha Quadrant through the compressed datastream. The daily transmission window would only last for eleven minutes, but that was enough time for quick exchanges of messages and data. Even better, the crew would now be able to have actual conversations with their family members in what amounted to "real time." Each visit would only last for three minutes, and only three crew members could have a turn each day, but to ask a question and have it answered immediately? Priceless.

Icheb looked for Seven when he arrived, even though he didn't expect to see her. She was scheduled to work in Astrometrics tonight. Neelix was deep in conversation with one of the Delaney sisters - Megan, Icheb thought - but Tom, B'Elanna and Harry were nowhere to be seen. He noticed Freddie Bristow in one corner, however. Once Icheb had moved through the line and chosen his dinner from Neelix's menu, which Chell was dishing out, he turned in Freddie's direction. Freddie was waving him over to a seat next to his. With a bit of reluctance, since Icheb had actually hoped he would be able to enjoy a meal conversing with the statuesque Megan, Icheb walked over to him and took a seat.

Fortunately, when Megan's conversation with Neelix ended, she picked up her tray and chose the chair next to Icheb's. She'd barely lowered herself into it before Freddie asked, "What number did you get?"

"I picked 137."

Freddie groaned in sympathy. "I'm sorry, Megan."

"Oh, don't feel sorry for me. My sister drew number 32. We'll have twice the opportunities to chat with our family. We'll just show up at each other's communication window. We always do things together anyway. I'm glad no one thought it would be fair if we only had one chip between us!"

"Congratulations, Ensign," Icheb said, as he took another bite of his dinner. He was getting used to Leola Root-Pleeka Rind Casserole. Finally. It was definitely an acquired taste.

"What number did you get, Freddie?" Megan asked.

"I got 94," he groaned. "It could be worse, though. Sue Nicoletti drew 146! That's the last number of them all!"

"What about you, Icheb?"

"I didn't draw a chip. I don't know anyone in the Alpha Quadrant."

"That doesn't seem fair, Icheb. Even Neelix drew one, and he doesn't know anyone in the Alpha Quadrant, either. And he got a pretty low number, too. I think his chip was number 19."

"Perhaps he's been corresponding with someone in the Alpha Quadrant. I heard he's been working on a cookbook. It would certainly be unique." Icheb looked down at his plate. "He'd need to consult with someone about ingredient substitutions. No one in the Federation ever heard of leola root or pleeka rind before _Voyager_ was lost in the Delta Quadrant."

"Lucky them," Freddie remarked with a grimace. He'd been on _Voyager_ from the very beginning, and he'd never taken to either ingredient - even though, like today, he often had to eat them.

Megan chewed her casserole slowly, apparently lost in thought. Once she'd swallowed her mouthful, she remarked, "Icheb, I think you do have people to speak with in the Alpha Quadrant. You're an Academy cadet. Shouldn't you reach out to some professors for guidance on your studies?"

"Seven and I exchanged letters with Professor Reagan in Stellar Cartography. He requested we examine certain areas of the galaxy for him. He's very interested in what particular star systems look like from this direction. Unmanned probes can only do so much. I never thought about speaking with him over the communication link with the Alpha Quadrant, though."

"If I were you, I'd speak to Commander Tuvok and ask him if he thinks you should consult with Professor Reagan or any of the other Academy professors during your assigned times," Megan advised. "He already has so much to do as the head of Security and Tactical. I wouldn't be surprised if he'd appreciate a little direct support from Academy staff to take some of the pressure off of him."

"Thanks, Ensign. I'll consider doing that. Up to now, all of my genetics research has been considered an independent study project. I work with the Doctor and Seven whenever I need to consult with someone, since the commander told me it's not an area of his expertise," _although he wants to know if I come up with anything that could be used as a weapon, particularly against the Borg,_ Icheb thought, but he wasn't about to mention this to Freddie and Megan.

"There you go! I wouldn't be surprised if Starfleet Medical would be extremely interested in your research, too," Freddie exclaimed.

"There's only one problem. I don't have a chip to speak with anyone in the Alpha Quadrant."

"Are you sure? Neelix said there was one for every member of the crew. Why don't you see if he's got yours put aside?" Megan bobbed her head towards Neelix. Icheb hadn't noticed, but Neelix was approaching their table.

"Icheb! I've been waiting to see you. Here's the last chip, so it's yours. I'm sorry about the number. It's very high."

Icheb read the number as Neelix handed it to him and began to chuckle. "Well, it looks like I'll have plenty of time to send out letters and find someone from the Academy who might want to speak with me." He displayed his isolinear chip. It was marked with number 142.

=/\=

When Icheb spoke with Tuvok the next morning, the commander offered to send out letters in the next day's datastream to professors in several departments. "As your primary instructor and counselor, arranging for appropriate courses is my responsibility. Ensign Megan Delaney's advice is sound. I will certainly include a letter to Starfleet Medical's research departments, emphasizing your considerable accomplishments to date in the field of genetics. As we have time before a direct interview can take place, thanks to your high number, we may also be able to arrange contact with professors in other required courses who can supervise your program through datastream communications."

"Thank you, Commander. I know how busy you are. It must be difficult to fit all of your tasks into your daily schedule when you also must find time to work with me."

"I welcome my work with you, Cadet. As time goes on, I value my years of teaching at the Academy more and more. I was able to share those years with my wife and children, who lived on Earth with me throughout my time at the Academy. By guiding you through the Academy experience - albeit by long distance - I find I am reliving many of the more rewarding aspects of my life there. Having direct contact with their staff will only enhance my memories of that special time. It is most gratifying that I will be able to share your progress with some of the instructors with whom I had the privilege to work during my tenure."

It did not escape Icheb's notice that Commander Tuvok's positive time at the Academy was surely due, at least in part, to the fact that he was able to share it with his family. Tuvok hadn't seen them for over seven years. Thanks to his studies of the people of the Federation, Icheb was well aware that even the most stoic of Vulcans missed their families, even if they would never admit this to anyone other than those family members.

Icheb did not mention this perception when he took his leave from his primary instructor, but he didn't forget it, either.

=/\=


	25. The Vortex

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54735.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _I expected the crew's good mood from having direct contact with the Alpha Quadrant would last a while. I quickly discovered I was mistaken. The source of this discontent has nothing to do with the interactions of the crew with their families per se. Rather, one individual's contact with the Alpha Quadrant has caused much controversy._

 _The Doctor has written a holonovel. This fact is not particularly surprising. Given the amount of off-duty time the Doctor likes to spend pursuing various hobbies on the holodeck, one could even say it was inevitable. However, the Doctor submitted this holonovel to a publisher, a Mr. Aldon Broht, of Broht and Forrester, a company reputed to produce "high quality" programs which are distributed for exhibition in holosuites throughout the Federation, and, possibly, even beyond._

 _According to Seven, who monitors the Project Watson technology during visits between crew and family members or friends, this Broht stroked the Doctor's ego beyond reason. "The publisher told him his characters were 'completely believable.'" she told me. "He compared the Doctor's work to Tolstoy's. Even_ _ **I**_ _know enough about Tolstoy's work to realize the Doctor is unlikely to have produced anything of similar quality." Since I'd read the very impressive War and Peace for my Academy literature course, I strongly suspected Seven's opinion was accurate._

 _I didn't think more of it at the time, but the next day, I was sitting nearby in the mess hall when Tom Paris told B'Elanna, Harry, and Neelix about the holonovel. He'd received access to "Photons Be Free" from the Doctor, and Tom had experienced it. He was very upset about the manner in which the Doctor portrayed the crew. When B'Elanna and Harry suggested to Tom that he was merely jealous of the Doctor's success, he suggested they visit the program themselves. They did. So did the captain, Neelix, and Chakotay. And I got a chance to experience it, too. When it was over, I was as upset about it as Tom was._

 _"Captain Jenkins" murdered a seriously injured crewman so that her pet helmsman - "Lieutenant Marseilles" - could be treated for a minor injury. Lieutenant Marseilles was also "a horndog," to use Tom's term, who used his status as a field medic to give female crew members "physicals" that were actually sexual interludes, while the poor EMH was sent on wild goose chases all over the ship, burdened by a mobile emitter that weighed at least 50 kilos. Except for a rather interesting mustache and dark hair, Lieutenant Marseilles was Tom Paris's double._

 _"Ensign Kymble" was a Trill who was a hypochondriac. The Bajoran first officer had Chakotay's facial features, but he also had a tattoo covering the entire left side of his face. He was violently prejudiced against holograms. In fact, the entire crew treated the poor EMH on the "Vortex"- at best - like an inconvenient piece of malfunctioning technology. The chief engineer, "Torrey," may have resembled a totally human B'Elanna Torres, but Tom said she was a "nasty piece of work." Torrey considered the EMH to be a mere tool, just like the hyperspanner she shook in his face. She didn't ever want the EMH in Engineering, even to treat an injured crew member!_

 _Captain Jenkins' crimes included decompiling the hapless EMH's program for daring to expand his program beyond the strictly medical. In fact, the Holo EMH's only ally was the lovely "Three of Eight" who tried to help him escape his fate, but failed. In the end, the misunderstood EMH's personality subroutines were scrubbed of any_ _human characteristics, and he became a program suitable for emergency use only._

 _I had trouble finding a character who looked like me until I noticed "Bechi," the Bolian assisting the ship's Klingon cook "K'Nellis." The EMH had to cure an epidemic created by the two because they'd served the Vortex's crew contaminated food. My character was extremely rude and, I have to say, extremely filthy in his personal habits. The only part of the scene I enjoyed was seeing Neelix in Klingon garb. He was a sight to behold._

 _The senior staff is meeting in the Conference Room as I dictate this log entry. I expect to add an addendum later, after I learn the outcome._

 _=/\=_

 _Personal Log Addendum_

 _The Doctor insisted that he hadn't actually portrayed any of the crew. The resemblance of his holocharacters to the their counterparts on Voyager is "totally coincidental," even though the Vortex had been "thrown into deep space by a powerful entity," just like Voyager. When the captain and other members of the senior staff expressed concern that people in the Alpha Quadrant might think they actually_ _ **did**_ _act like that towards the Doctor, he dismissed the idea as absurd. He wasn't writing about himself. The story was meant to illustrate how "organics" treat "photonics" in the real world. He simply wrote the story this way because his life on Voyager was all he actually knew. He refused to change his masterpiece in any way._

 _I don't think this is the last we're going to hear about this program. When Tom told me about the meeting, he let slip that he has a "plan" to make the Doctor see the error of his ways. He was very mysterious and didn't tell me anything more. I hope Tom is successful in whatever action he takes. I don't mind being Bolian in the program, or a cook's assistant, but I hated being portrayed as having terrible hygiene._

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate_ _54738.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Tom "revised" the Doctor's holonovel, and the Doctor discovered it today. Instead of the story of a poor, mistreated EMH on a ship lost in space, the revised program changes the protagonist to a poor, badly treated medical assistant forced to serve under an egotistical, petty, and lascivious EMH on a ship lost in space. This EMH takes advantage of his position by giving a new version of the Doctor's Three of Eight (Two of Three, because there are three of them, and they're triplets!) an aphrodisiac and taking advantage of her sexually._

 _Naturally, the Doctor was enraged. Tom calmed him down by assuring him a backup copy of his original program was available in the holodeck databank, but he pointed out that the reaction the Doctor had to Tom's version of the EMH was the way his crewmates felt when they saw characters who were modeled much too closely on them. He left it up to the Doctor whether or not to make changes in his program, so people experiencing it wouldn't confuse his characters with Voyager's actual crew._

 _After talking it over with Neelix, the Doctor decided that altering the names and the setting to relieve his crewmates anxieties would be a good idea. He contacted Broht and asked him to give him a few more weeks to complete his revision, to "fine tune" the characters. The publisher refused to accept any revisions at all, even though he'd promised the Doctor he could do so in an earlier communication. To his horror, the Doctor found out the program, advertised as "written by Voyager's EMH," has already been distributed and seen by thousands._

 _When the captain and the Doctor demanded Broht withdraw the holonovel, he told them he would not. He didn't need to, he said. Since the Doctor is a hologram, he is not a "person" under Federation Law and has no right to control his own creation. Only a "person" qualifies for protected status as an artist. I don't think this Broht realizes that by his action, he's illustrating the very point the Doctor was trying to make. Holograms, like Voyager's EMH, have NO rights. Or maybe he does realize it, but simply doesn't care._

 _The captain and the EMH asked for a hearing from a Federation arbitrator. He's asking for Broht to be ordered to recall the unrevised version of the Doctor's work and to be prevented from distributing it before the Doctor has a chance to make the revisions he now realizes are necessary. It's unfortunate this happened, but he should have anticipated people in the Alpha Quadrant might think we're all like the characters in his program - or this Broht of Broht and Forrester._

=/\=


	26. Decision

=/\=

Icheb was extremely curious about how the Doctor's hearing was going, but Seven had been reluctant to tell him any details. "All communications through Project Watson are considered privileged, and I am not to speak of them to any outsider without permission," she'd said, when Icheb asked her to tell him about it. "I am present only to monitor the equipment. In a way, I am the equivalent of the _'Vortex's'_ EMH, _after_ he was eviscerated of his personality subroutines." Icheb had to smile at this image. As far as he was concerned, Seven's personality was indelible.

That didn't mean Seven was unaffected by her limited status as Just Another Piece of Project Watson's Technology, as she claimed. Without providing any specific descriptions of any of the interactions she'd viewed, Seven conveyed to Icheb that she now understood how important these meetings were to the crew and, especially, to those in the Alpha Quadrant. They were finally having the chance to communicate directly with family members they once had mourned, thinking them dead and gone forever. As a result, as she confided to Icheb one morning, she planned to offer the chip assigned to her to one of their crewmates. His own communication window had been truncated when technical difficulties cropped up halfway through his session with his parents. She was certain this person would benefit more from using her chip than she would.

However, when Seven returned to Borg Central that afternoon, Icheb noticed she still held the isolinear chip in her hand. "Didn't you find Harry?" Icheb asked her.

"I did," she replied quietly.

"Isn't he going to call his mother again to wish her a happy birthday?"

Seven was silent for a moment. "He said he didn't want my chip. He 'overreacted' when his scheduled transmission was cut short. He believes I should use it myself."

"Both of your parents have been assimilated."

She stood still for a moment, with a pensive expression on her face. She finally said, "Ensign Kim reminded me that just because I can no longer communicate with my parents, that doesn't mean I have no family in the Alpha Quadrant. My father has a sister on Earth."

"Will you call her?"

"I don't know. I believe I met Aunt Irene once, when I was a little girl. I'm not sure. She may have forgotten me."

Icheb smiled slightly. "I'm sure she hasn't. You should use the chip to speak with her."

Seven fingered the chip absently and asked Icheb, "Do you wish to be with me if I do?"

Icheb considered the question. "Perhaps it would be best if you spoke to her by yourself the first time. If it goes well, you can tell her about me. I can always meet her next time."

It was strange to see Seven so unsure of herself as she contemplated her response. Eventually, she nodded her head. "That is logical. We expect one more day of testimony in the hearing concerning the Doctor's complaint. Until that is over, I will not have the opportunity to contact my aunt."

Despite her phrasing, Icheb thought Seven was still unsure about what course she should take. She was continuing to turn the chip over and over in her right hand, the one without any implants marking her as Borg. Then she suddenly turned away from him and mounted the platform to her regeneration cubicle. Clearly, their discussion was over. She would make up her own mind, without any further consultation with Icheb.

=/\=

Two days later, Seven informed Icheb that she intended to use her chip to speak with her aunt. After Seven returned to Borg Central, Icheb asked, "Did your conversation with your Aunt Irene go well?"

"It was an interesting interchange. I thought I recalled meeting her once, and she said that I did - more than once. I never remembered actually being on Earth, but she told me she cared for me when I was six years old, while my parents were away for a weekend."

"You were a perfect child, I'm sure," Icheb said, smiling.

"I was not," she said, in a stern tone of voice but with a bemused light in her eyes. "When my parents left me with her for a weekend, I was very angry. I locked myself in her bathroom. The only way she could get me out was to offer me a strawberry tart. She said I was the most stubborn child she'd ever met."

Icheb was taken aback. "So your conversation with your aunt didn't go well?"

"On the contrary, when my three minutes were up, I wished my time could last a little longer. I would have liked to hear more about my life before I became Borg. You know I love to eat strawberries . . ." At Icheb's nod, she continued, "I loved them as a child, too. But Aunt Irene said I would only eat the most perfect ones." A tender smile crossed her lips. "Apparently I cannot blame the Borg for my insistence on having my own way, or my perfectionism. I possessed both traits from early childhood."

Icheb chuckled at her observation. It must be true. While Icheb always sought to perform his tasks as perfectly as possible, he was nowhere near as single-minded as Seven in that regard. No one had ever accused him of being "stubborn," either, other than Seven herself; and that was only when he virtually forced her to accept his cortical node when hers was failing.

"Did you have an opportunity to tell your aunt about me?"

"I did. She said she was sorry you weren't available today. She's looking forward to meeting you during our next conversation."

"I'm looking forward to meeting her, too. It will be nice to have an aunt."

"A great aunt," the perfectionist Seven corrected.

"I'm sure she is great," Icheb answered, as they both smiled warmly at his very small joke. As he turned away to go to his computer console to work on a paper for Commander Tuvok, Icheb realized he really did look forward to meeting another member of his family. There were so few, and one of the most precious was far away from him now, and getting farther away by the minute.

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54744.8_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _The Arbitrator announced his decision today. While the captain and the Doctor had hoped for the EMH to receive the designation of a person under the law, this did not happen. Since the Arbitrator said the scope of this hearing was relatively narrow, he was not prepared to go that far. He indicated, however, that the issue of holographic rights wasn't going away, and he expects there will be further hearings and decisions in the future to clarify the issue._

 _However, the Doctor didn't actually lose his case. The Arbitrator conferred the legal definition of "artist" upon the Doctor, which gives him the right to control his own work. Broht was ordered to recall all copies of "Photons Be Free" from distribution immediately._

 _There will be no revised holonovel distributed by Broht and Forrester. Broht was very upset by the Arbitrator's decision and will not publish the new version. I hope he obeys the Arbitrator's decree and recalls all of the ones already playing in holosuites. From the devious way he acted towards the Doctor, I would not trust him to do this._

 _The Doctor may have lost Broht's services, but he's going to revise his creation anyway and look for a new publisher. The controversy may even make others more interested, since the hearing was covered by news providers. Tom offered to provide a "second pair of eyes" on the new version of "Photons Be Free." The Doctor will return the favor by assisting Tom in preparing his "Captain Proton" adventure series for submission to publishers._

 _When I heard about this decision, I congratulated the Doctor and wished him well. The Doctor said he still planned on having a Bolian chef's assistant that looked a lot like me in his revision, but he promised that he wouldn't be dirty or "skanky." I told the Doctor I would appreciate that change very much. (Tom told him I was upset about "Bechi's" terrible hygiene, and I think he must have used the word "skanky." I had to look up the term after the Doctor spoke to me.)_

 _Nevertheless, I will withhold judgment about the success of the revision until after I see the new version of me._

=/\=


	27. Mortality

=/\=

Since the Mess Hall was not big enough to accommodate everyone comfortably, the captain allowed Neelix to set up in Holodeck One. All but the crew members serving on their duty stations were planning to attend. Icheb remembered the last time an event was held here. It was a much happier occasion: B'Elanna and Tom's wedding. Mezoti was still on board then. He would have liked her to be with him now.

They had experienced death together, on their cube, when they felt First die through their mental link. If she were still on _Voyager_ , the fact they'd shared that experience would have helped both of them endure this new loss.

The crew of _Voyager's_ links of friendship had grown into an extended family. Even without the mental link of the Borg, everyone had felt the painful jolt of losing one of their own. Icheb felt Lieutenant Joseph Carey's loss more acutely than he did when his fellow immature Borg expired. He'd never really liked First. Joe was a great engineer who'd submerged his natural disappointment at being passed over for the post of Chief Engineer to become B'Elanna's strong second in command of Engineering. Icheb knew this was so, because on one occasion, when Icheb was working late in Engineering with Joe, he'd asked why, since he was regular Starfleet, he wasn't named the chief.

"Ah," Joe had said, grimacing enough so that Icheb hurriedly apologized and told him to forget he'd asked the question. Joe shook his head and answered, "It's a valid question, Icheb. As a cadet, you need to understand how things work. Normally, the second officer, Tuvok, would have been promoted as acting First after Commander Cavit's death, and I would probably would have been named acting Chief Engineer to replace Lieutenant Commander Ziegler.

"But there was nothing normal about our situation. When we were thrown into the Delta Quadrant, we had to integrate the crew of the _Val Jean_ with _Voyager's._ The captain had to find a way to make that work. It made sense for Chakotay, as the captain of the Maquis, to become first officer. He'd been through the Academy and had reached the rank of commander before he resigned from Starfleet to join the Maquis. He had the credentials for the position. He's the one who recommended B'Elanna to be chief engineer. In retrospect, having a second Maquis named as the head of a department was a smart thing for the captain to do."

"So you're saying Lieutenant Torres was named to the position for what amounts to political reasons?"

"Only partially. For such a young woman who didn't even graduate from the Academy, she's an amazingly skilled engineer. I've been in Starfleet for quite a few years, and I'm an expert in our systems. But B'Elanna - sometimes I can't believe what she comes up with, especially when we need to patch up the ship. You know what bad shape _Voyager_ was in when we put down on that planet for maintenance a few months ago, right? I guess she got a lot of extra training in jury-rigging when she was in the Maquis. Even when we couldn't obtain all our materials to spec, she managed to work around what we didn't have and repair the ship with what we did. I wasn't sorry she was the one in charge during that ordeal."

"It bothered you she was promoted over you, though?"

Joe had stopped working on his task and had thought for at least a minute and a half before saying, "It bothered the hell out of me for the first year or so. I'm an excellent engineer, Icheb. If we were in the Alpha Quadrant, I'd be chief engineer on any ship I served on by now. But we're still thirty years out from the Alpha Quadrant. I began to realize, sometime in our second year - hard as it was for me to swallow - that the captain had made the right choice. Some engineers have a quality that is beyond knowledge. Maybe it's instinct. Whatever it is, she has it; and when I'm honest with myself, I know I don't, at least not to the degree she has. I'd be fine as chief on a vessel in Federation space. But out here? With no supports? B'Elanna has done it for seven years now, and I'm content that I get to support her. The only other person on _Voyager_ as qualified as B'Elanna is the captain, and she can't command the ship and be chief engineer, too! So I've made peace with my place on this ship."

Then Joe said something that now haunted Icheb. "If B'Elanna's being the boss means I get home safe to my wife and boys, that's all that matters to me."

Joe Carey wasn't making it home. His body had been placed inside an empty photon torpedo casing and shot off into space this morning. This gathering was a celebration of his life, but although Joe was of Irish descent, it was far more subdued than Irish wakes Icheb had researched in the database, when Neelix asked for his help in planning it. Those wakes could sometimes be wild affairs. Not this one. Small knots of people were scattered around the hall, speaking in soft tones, sharing their memories of Joe. Occasionally, someone laughed a bit, but at this gathering, laughter wasn't contagious. Icheb deduced the crew was in shock over the manner of Joe's death. It had been so unnecessary, so senseless.

Admiral Hendricks, one of Captain Janeway's Academy professors, gave her a mission: to retrieve _Friendship One_ , a probe that had been sent out into the galaxy three hundred years ago. Its purpose was to greet any other races it might encounter, to tell them the people of Earth wished to be their friends. Starfleet had projected that its path had taken it to an area of space near _Voyager's_ current position. It was the first actual assignment they'd received since _Voyager_ was pulled into the Delta Quadrant, and the captain was eager to complete it successfully.

Icheb assisted the team in Astrometrics that tracked the probe to its current location: a world ravaged by a nuclear winter. Radiation poisoned the atmosphere. Ironically, the radiation came about when the people of this planet experimented with the antimatter powering the technology they obtained from _Friendship One_ , which had landed virtually intact. The people of the planet didn't know how to control antimatter, lost containment, and destroyed the environment of their world. A remnant of the population was still clinging to life in caverns below ground, but radiation was on the verge of finally exterminating them.

The away team, consisting of Chakotay, Harry, Tom, Neelix, and Joe Carey, had been assigned the task of finding the probe. They did, but the latter three were taken hostage by a group of the inhabitants. When the captain offered to trade food and medicine for one of the hostages, the leader, a violent man, shot Joe just before he was transported up to _Voyager_.

While the other inhabitants had no reason to trust the remaining hostages, even they were stunned by Verin's brutal act. Eventually, the crew of _Voyager_ found a way to treat the people's radiation sickness, as well as their atmosphere, clearing their skies for the first time in many years. The people of the planet now could hope to survive and rebuild their world.

But Joe was dead.

=/\=

"How are you doing, Icheb?" Neelix asked softly. Icheb was startled; he hadn't noticed the Talaxian's approach.

"As well as anyone, I guess. It's so unbelievable. We tried so hard to save him, the way Seven saved you once with her modified nanoprobes. It was no use."

"I wondered if that technique she used on me had been tried. He'd been shot in the chest, not the head. Seven told me once that if the neural passageways weren't damaged, it would work."

"But they were damaged. The head injury he suffered when you were taken hostage was more serious than it appeared. The radiation in the environment accelerated the deterioration of the tissues of his brain. And with the catastrophic blood loss he suffered from the shot that ruptured his heart, his injuries were too grave for our nanoprobes to repair."

Neelix shook his head. "It's just terrible. I feel so badly for his family. If I had known what that Verin was going to do, I'd have insisted I be the one traded for the food and medicine."

"Neelix! _You_ would be dead!"

"Oh, I've been dead before! Seriously, I didn't have a head injury. Seven's therapy might have worked on me again." He looked away then, focusing on something from memory, Icheb thought, and added, "And even if it didn't, I don't have family anywhere waiting for me to come home. I don't want to die, Icheb. I was suicidal for a time after Seven brought me back to life, but I'm over that now. I'd love to see the Alpha Quadrant; but sometimes I wonder what will happen to me when we get there. I'll be the only Talaxian in the Alpha Quadrant."

"I'll be the only Brunali," Icheb reminded him.

"Oh, but you're young! You're an Academy cadet, and you're doing so well in your studies. Everyone talks about the bright future you have ahead of you. I'm quite a bit older than you, and sometimes . . . well, I do miss my own people. Maybe if Kes was still here, I'd feel differently; but it's just me."

"Neelix . . ." Icheb murmured sympathetically, "I never knew you felt that way."

"Oh, don't mind me. I'm usually a very positive person, you know that. Being down on the planet, and seeing Joe being executed by that madman Verin - it's gotten to me, I guess. I'll shake myself out of it and land on my feet. I always do." Neelix looked around and sighed. "I see B'Elanna and the captain aren't here. I hope they don't isolate themselves and dwell on what happened again."

"I know B'Elanna feels terrible about it because Joe took her place on the away team."

"That's true, Icheb, but with all the radiation and her pregnancy, it would have been so bad for the baby even if we'd only been on the surface for a very short time to retrieve the probe."

The full import of what Neelix had said earlier registered in Icheb's consciousness. "Neelix, what did you mean by 'again'?"

"Oh, I guess you don't know. You weren't on board then, that time we went through the first Void." When Icheb shook his head, Neelix continued, "When we went through that awful blackness for weeks, and we thought it was going to be for years, B'Elanna and the captain both became seriously depressed. We found out later that B'Elanna was . . . well, I'm not going to say all that happened. It's not my place. But she was very depressed for a while about the destruction of the Maquis. For quite a while she hid her depressed feelings from everyone, even Tom. When Chakotay found out about it, he confronted her with the evidence, and something could be done about it. B'Elanna got over it. During the same time, the captain locked herself away and wasn't seen by anyone other than Chakotay for weeks. She brooded about the choice she made which stranded _Voyager_ in the Delta Quadrant. Then we encountered a Maalon garbage man who was dumping radioactive waste into the Void and poisoning a race of people who lived in that dark place. She finally came around then, when we really needed her, to deal with that crisis. She functions more normally now; but honestly, in some ways, I'm not sure she's completely over that depression. She isn't the same Captain Jameway I first met."

"Thank you for telling me, Neelix. If there's anything I can do to help either of them, I will."

"I'm sure you will, Icheb. Well, I've got to go mingle. I _am_ the morale officer, you know."

As Icheb said goodbye to Neelix, he thought the morale officer could use his own spirits raised. Once Neelix moved off to speak with Lieutenant Rollins and Ensign Mulcahey, Icheb glanced around the room to see if there was anyone else at the gathering he'd like to speak with. Tom and B'Elanna had left early. They'd only made a token appearance, preferring to grieve by themselves in their quarters. The captain and Chakotay were gone, too. Tuvok and Harry also left early, as they were on bridge duty. Seven was in Astrometrics. He couldn't see Naomi or Ensign Wildman, either. In fact, the crowd was rapidly thinning. Icheb didn't have any actual responsibilities now, and he didn't feel like standing around any longer. He stepped into the corridor outside of the holodeck and activated his communication badge. "Naomi, are you doing anything right now?"

"I'm at Marla's, playing with Aimee. If you're not busy, why don't you come by and keep us company? Mom had to go on duty, and it was too sad for me to stay on the Holodeck or alone in our quarters without her. "

"If Marla wouldn't mind, I'd like to come."

Marla didn't mind. After spending a pleasant hour playing with Aimee and conversing with Naomi, Icheb felt better. Later, before he stepped onto the platform and began the very short regeneration cycle he still needed to keep his remaining implants functioning properly, he spent an hour contemplating his existence. He was now on a par with a wholly organic person such as Naomi, since he could not expect to live a life much longer than that ordained by his species. It could be much shorter, since injury or illness beyond the ability of nanoprobes to heal could end his life at any time. Photonics like the Doctor would enjoy their existence only as long as their programs were maintained to prevent them from degrading. The cybernetic immortality of the Collective would last as long as the Borg as a whole did, but even that powerful race of drones could be destroyed, as their ill-fated invasion of Fluidic Space indicated.

One way to overcome his ephemeral nature was the keeping of a personal log. As long as his log existed, the thoughts he recorded within would be available to those who came after him. Like the Doctor or the Borg, this cybernetic immortality had limits. If Starfleet ceased to exist and all of its cyber records were destroyed, his log would disappear. There was no escaping his own mortality. Even the universe itself was expected to expire someday.

There was only one thing to do: to live life to the fullest, every day. No one really knew when the end would come.

He was sorry life Joe's had ended before he'd returned to his family, but it was comforting to know Joe had visited with them again through Project Watson only a couple of weeks ago. Icheb was certain Joe's wife and boys would cherish that memory. Because they lost Joe so soon after they saw him, it might be bittersweet, but at least they'd have it. The _Voyager_ crew who had perished in the early years of the journey had never had that opportunity.

If nothing else, this experience proved to Icheb that even three minutes of time could be of great value. When Seven again spoke to her Aunt Irene through Project Watson, Icheb would make sure he to be there to meet his future great aunt, too. He didn't know how many chances he'd actually get. Life in the Delta Quadrant was precarious, and all the more precious because of it.

=/\=


	28. Discoveries

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54792.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _The avenue Q's mother suggested I pursue to develop a weapon that could be used against the Borg is beginning to make sense. The delivery system is not going to be through nanoprobes, however. The Doctor suggested I research how cures for various genetic conditions were developed on Earth in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It was excellent advice. I've discovered another way of delivering genetic changes into cells, such as the ones my parents introduced into me, which have proven so deadly to drones linked with the Collective. It may even be the method my parents used._

 _Retroviruses, in their most virulent forms, can be deadly, but when the genes that make them deadly are removed, they can serve as a delivery system to provide DNA to replace defective genes. The retrovirus itself is able to penetrate the nuclei of cells, and the healing DNA placed within can cure medical conditions which are antithetical to health, or even life itself. In the 2030's on Earth, several inherited diseases were finally wiped out by the application of this method, including the degenerative condition called Huntington's Disease._

 _I have created a prototype serum that can be injected into a person, which will turn him or her into . . . I guess I would have to call him or her a "Typhoid Mary" to the Borg. Or maybe simply another Icheb. Unfortunately, I am unable to test this serum on myself, as I would prefer to do to avoid endangering anyone else if it doesn't work. I already carry this agent in my body, and if the Borg ever assimilate me again, I will infect that Borg vessel, as I did the first time they captured me. A volunteer would be needed to see if this agent can be transferred to anyone else. From my research, I've determined it works primarily by destroying the links between drones. The affected drones are unable to function as an integrated hive organism and would behave so erratically, their bodies, and therefore their part of the Hive, would degenerate into chaos._

 _I do not believe this chaos would be transmitted from cube to cube, however, unless another Borg cube's drones came to that vessel to retrieve parts and "caught" the condition from the dead and dying drones. If a drone is no longer linked with the Borg Queen and the rest of the Collective, they also would not "catch" this chaotic condition. Those who have been severed from the Hive, such as the drones of the Resistance, would not be affected. From what I have discovered about this now "inert" DNA in my body, I believe Seven is fortunate she was already a former Borg when she came onto our Children's Collective cube. Likewise, the incomplete nature of our Children's Collective's assimilation prevented us from being destroyed through this means. We never were linked directly to the rest of the Hive and the Borg Queen._

 _This morning I spoke with the Doctor and Seven about my discoveries. Seven was quite disconcerted that I had been conducting this type of research without her knowledge, but the Doctor intervened on my behalf. He told her he'd conducted his own experiments from time to time, in an effort to refine the serum used to protect the captain, Lieutenant Torres, and Commander Tuvok in the matter of Unimatrix Zero (although in Commander Tuvok's case, it did not work as well as anticipated). His efforts had continued because the captain and Lieutenant Commander Tuvok expressly ordered him to do so. He admitted that conducting these experiments had made him extremely uncomfortable, since using such a formula would be counter to his adherence to the Hippocratic Oath. However, I have no such qualms. After seeing what happened to my own home planet, as well as to many of the individuals who have been enslaved by the Borg, I am willing to do what I can to end the threat of assimilation, to protect those who would be victimized by the Borg in the future._

 _At the end of our discussion, we decided it was time to alert the captain and the commander to my discoveries. The captain has set aside time this afternoon for a meeting about this. Commander Chakotay will also be present for this meeting. Up to now, he is unaware of the exact nature of my research, although he knew I had been pursuing "anti-Borg weapon theories" as an independent study course. As far as the Doctor knows, Commander Chakotay had been apprised of the EMH's efforts._

 _I plan to provide an addendum to this log entry after the meeting._

 _=/\=_

 _Personal Log Addendum_

 _I was surprised to find the entire senior staff in the Conference Room when I presented my research. I thought my presentation would be controversial, but I was unprepared for the actual reception. They applauded me._

 _I explained it was too early for such a reaction, since we haven't been able to test whether or not it will work. When the captain explained the need for a volunteer, I was not surprised by the individual who raised his hand first. My conversation with Neelix at Lieutenant Carey's wake prepared me for the likelihood he would be willing to serve as a "guinea pig," or "horvan dalax" (the organism the Talaxians utilized before they outlawed animal experimentation, as the people of Earth also did, centuries ago)._

 _There was a great deal of discussion about our exact testing protocol, particularly from Lieutenant Commander Tuvok. Since his experience with the Doctor's anti-assimilation serum was less than successful, he was concerned about what might happen to Neelix if he were to be injected with unmodified nanoprobes as part of the test. Seven was able to offer an alternative method. She noted that one of my early experimental procedures had involved a sample of my blood. I added unmodified nanoprobes to it. The nanoprobes did work on my blood, but after several hours, I saw they no longer multiplied and eventually, they completely broke down. This answers the question of how the drones on my cube were able to put me into a maturation chamber when I was assimilated. It apparently took some time for the "infection" to spread throughout the vessel, in the way it eventually did._

 _In the first stage of the experiment, Neelix will receive the serum. We'd need to determine the DNA had been well integrated into his body, particularly inside his blood cells, before proceeding to the next stage. After several days, nanoprobes would be introduced into a sample of Neelix's blood. We would observe carefully to see how quickly the nanoprobes broke down, assuming they did so, as they had in my blood sample. This suggestion relieved my mind tremendously. The Doctor was also visibly pleased. This method should not put Neelix into any direct danger by the procedure. Neelix, needless to say, was even happier!_

 _I will continue to work on the serum for the next several days to make sure I have not overlooked anything. Neelix would like to be a part of this work, which I welcome. Tom reminded me that Neelix brings his own unique perspective to problem solving; and, after all, he will be the subject of this experiment. He needs to know as much as possible about it beforehand._

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate_ _54812.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _The testing protocols for the serum based upon my genome have been completed. It works. Neelix is now a carrier of the same agent my parents planted in me when I was born, or possibly, shortly afterwards. I still have no memories of my early life, other than the few glimmers I recalled when Seven told me my true name._

 _We_ _have_ _both accepted the fact that if we should be sent against a Borg cube to infect it, we almost certainly will die, along with the drones. I am no longer young enough to be placed into a maturation chamber, apparently the means by which I survived the first time. Neelix is an adult, so he wouldn't have any protection against this serum, either._

 _Neelix and I now share a unique bond. We are individuals, but we are also sophisticated weapons. I'm glad I'm no longer the only one who possesses this deadly "gift," and that Neelix is in this with me. He has become a true friend. I hope we will never need to use this weapon against the Borg, but if it comes to pass that the captain must deploy either of us, I would volunteer to go, and so would Neelix._

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate_ _54837.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _I saw them in the Mess Hall at lunchtime. Seven is becoming quite attached to our first officer. Or, perhaps, she is merely showing it more. She actually seems to flirt with him!_

 _They were lost together in the Ventu Preserve on Ledos. The shuttle they were on was destroyed in the crash, and they had to work together to survive. The Ventu are an indigenous people on Ledos who were being protected from incursions by the other Ledosian culture by a shield, which had been erected by an earlier group of intersteller explorers (Seven believes them to be Species 312, due to the unusual configuration of the shield). In order to save the commander and herself, Seven had to use the destroyed shuttle's deflector to take the shield down. Unfortunately, this left the Ventu open to "scientific evaluation" as "a resource to be developed" by the greater Ledosian society, which would have ruined their culture._

 _The crew of Voyager saved Seven and Commander Chakotay. Tom Paris, who was off being tutored by a curmudgeonly piloting instructor because he'd been going a little too fast through Ledosian space earlier in the week, was able to retrieve the "scientific evaluation team" and destroy the deflector, which restored the shield._

 _I was happy to get Seven back, but this new flirtatiousness of hers is disconcerting. I know she decided not to go through with the removal of the emotion inhibitor chip before when she was having "personal relationship" problems. I now believe the commander was the subject of her developing feelings then._

 _If she and Commander Chakotay become close and begin a personal relationship, what will happen to me? Would Commander Chakotay be interested in taking on an almost-grown former Borg son? Will Seven still go through with adopting me if she forms a relationship with the commander?_

 _The adoption proceeding is working its way very slowly through Federation channels. Even with Operation Watson supplementing the Pathfinder datastream, things happen slowly from so far away. I'm sure everything would work out once the adoption has been established, but if their relationship becomes serious before that happens . . . well, perhaps I am looking for a problem that doesn't really exist. I hope that is all that I'm doing._

=/\=


	29. Cheese Pierogi

/\=

"I don't believe I have any talent for cooking, Neelix," Icheb said sadly, looking glumly at the lump of dough he was holding. It was squishy and rather sticky in his hands. The flour Neelix had spread on the counter "to prevent sticking" was flying everywhere, much of it landing somewhere on him whenever Icheb tried to do what Neelix called kneading. If Neelix hadn't provided him with an apron that covered him from his chest down to his knees, he knew he would be covered with the powdery substance. As it was, Naomi had laughed at the pasty smear he somehow had managed to get over his eyebrow.

"Oh, don't worry, Icheb. It's like any other skill. Practice makes perfect. Or, at the very least, it makes you better at whatever you're practicing. With replicator technology, you won't have many opportunities to practice cooking, I'm afraid."

"But if you ever have to live in an environment without replicators, you'll want to know how to do some basic cooking," Naomi pointed out. "I think it's even covered in some Academy courses. It's good to learn a little about it now."

Icheb sighed. He pushed a forefinger into the dough. He didn't know what it was supposed to feel like. It was very discouraging. Neelix spoke up then. "Icheb, you probably won't have to worry about cooking anything with dough anytime soon, other than these pierogi. Why don't we change places. You can mash up the cheese with the cooked onion, along with just a very little bit of this root vegetable. I'll worry about getting the dough kneaded and rolled out. It's a very springy dough, but I know how to handle it. I've made cheese pierogi before."

"Neelix, you aren't slipping any leola root into these, are you?" Naomi asked worriedly.

"Oh, no, no. Mr. Lessing has been growing these in his hydroponics bay. He found them a year ago on an away mission. He traded with a farmer for them because he says they taste just like white potatoes grown on Earth. I think they're rather bland, myself, but Mr. Lessing and everyone else who eats them seems to really like them. I'm adding just a little bit to some of the cheese filling. For a little variety, you know."

"Then these aren't authentic, First Contact Day pierogi like Zefram Cochrane loved?" Naomi asked.

"This big bowl over here is the regular cheese filling. Don't worry. Most of them will be Zefram Cochrane's favorite. I'm just experimenting with this other flavor."

"Adding a little Delta Quadrant flair?" Icheb asked, with a grin.

"As a matter of fact, no. I did my research. In Poland, on Earth, many fillings were used. This cheese-onion-potato flavor is actually a very traditional version. That's one of the reasons I decided to try it out. After you've mashed that filling up, Icheb, we'll all take a taste."

When Neelix said the filling was ready, they each took a small spoonful to compare it to the plain cheese version, which they'd already sampled. Icheb and Naomi looked at each other and smiled. "I like this flavor even better than the plain cheese ones," Naomi said.

"So do I," Icheb admitted.

"Well, then, we'll make up this batch and put it aside for us to eat later on. No one else has to know we've got these here! We'll give the rest of the crew the cheesy ones!" Neelix declared.

Looking at the huge bowl of cheese filling, Icheb asked, "How many of these pierogi are you planning on making?"

"Oh, I think sixty dozen should do the trick."

Naomi and Icheb looked at each other with a panicked look on both of their faces. "That's over seven hundred pierogi!" Naomi exclaimed.

"Seven hundred twenty, to be precise," Icheb added.

"We'd better get busy making the first batch, team. We've only got four days until our First Contact Day party!" Neelix said brightly.

Icheb sighed. It was going to be a very long four days.

=/\=

After three days, they had formed seven hundred and forty-seven cheese pierogi. It had been a lot of work, but once he tasted one, slathered in butter and a little onion, Icheb had to acknowledge they were worth all that work. They were delicious. The "secret hoard" of cheese-onion-potato pierogi were safely stowed away in Neelix's freezing storage unit, ready for the First Contact Day "after party" Neelix had promised his "team." He'd set aside some deep red made from ground up roots, too. Icheb was afraid to ask what was in it. It was so pungent when he sniffed it, his eyes began to water. Despite Neelix's assurances that it was a "traditional Polish horseradish sauce," Naomi and Icheb agreed it was probably another experimental recipe of the Talaxian chef's, just another way to use up more of the leola root most of the crew disliked.

The last day before the party was the fun day. They made decorations to dress up the tables in the Mess Hall, which Naomi promised to put in place just before the party was scheduled to start. As they were finishing up their craft work, Tom wheeled in the primary decoration, a contribution he'd put together with B'Elanna's help.

"What is this, Tom?" Icheb asked his friend.

"Why this is a _gen-u-wine_ reproduction twentieth century juke box! I've loaded it up with the songs Zefram Cochrane had on his list of 'favorite tunes' - as dutifully recorded by the first Vulcans to visit Earth, right after Cochrane's first warp flight! He had great taste. A lot of the songs are favorites of mine, too. _Johnny Be Good_ by Chuck Berry. _Black Magic Woman_ by Santana. And of course, the ever popular, _Shake Your Booty, Baby,_ by . . .

"That's great, Tom," Neelix interrupted. "Why don't you roll it over into that corner. We'll make that the dance floor area."

Tom didn't seem at all disturbed by Neelix cutting him off from enthusiastically listing every song in the jukebox. Icheb suspected B'Elanna did the same thing whenever her husband began extolling the virtues of one of his hobbies. He'd seen her do it to Tom on several occasions.

Once the device was set up, Icheb wandered over and perused the choices listed on the front panel. He was familiar with some from hearing them when he visited Tom and B'Elanna's quarters, but others were new to him. Since Tom seemed to like really lively numbers, Icheb looked forward to hearing the ones that were unfamiliar. This party was shaping up to be one of Neelix's most amazing extravaganzas. Icheb was really looking forward to it, and to their private "after party," once it was over. Icheb and Naomi had both volunteered to be part of the clean-up team, knowing that the tasty "secret stash" of pierogi awaited them once they'd finished putting the Mess Hall to rights.

=/\=

The party was in full swing when Icheb finally arrived. He'd volunteered to serve part of a shift in Engineering so that Freddie Bristow, who was scheduled to work throughout the party, would have a chance to attend for a couple of hours. Icheb hoped he hadn't missed Tuvok's recreation of the first words by a Vulcan to a human: "Live Long and Prosper."

Tuvok wasn't there, however. Neelix wasn't, either. In fact, none of the senior staff was present. Naomi was standing in the corner of the room, near the juke box. She looked a little lost. Before making his way to her, he picked up a plate and grabbed a few cheese pierogi and the red sauce which, as Neelix had maintained, was a nice, spicy counterpart to the cheesy dumplings, which glistened with melted butter and bits of translucent onion.

"Hi, Naomi. Has Tuvok done his dance yet?"

"He didn't want to do it, Icheb; and he didn't have to. Neelix was trying to convince him to do the dance, but then Commander Chakotay came in and took Neelix away. I heard them talking about finding Talaxian life signs on long-range scans. They're only a few light years away, according to the commander."

"Talaxian life signs here? This far from Talax?"

"That's what the commander said."

"I wonder how they got here. Talax is almost 40,000 light years away."

"Maybe the Talaxians had some very fast ships," Naomi answered, sighing. Absent-mindedly, she helped herself to one of Icheb's pierogi. After tasting it, she added. "This sauce smells really strong, but it's just as good with the pierogi as Neelix said it would be."

"I think so, too. Do you want me to get another plate for you?" Icheb smiled as he moved his plate out of her reach. She was reaching for another of his pierogi, and he only had two left.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I can get my own. Stay here, won't you? I don't want you running off to Astrometrics to find out more about these Talaxians."

"Oh, I can wait." Actually, he had just been thinking about going there, but looking around, he noticed none of their particular friends were in the Mess Hall. Naomi undoubtedly wanted someone to keep her company; and he was the only person who could provide that at the moment.

He didn't mind, really. Naomi wasn't quite an adolescent yet. Actually, she was barely five years old, but she'd matured very quickly because of her Ktarian heritage. Now, all of a sudden, she seemed even older. Perhaps it was the fuzzy pink sweater she was wearing. It made her look a lot more mature than her usual jumpsuit outfits. Icheb felt a little pang. Was Mezoti maturing as quickly as Naomi? As far as he knew, the Norcadi developed much more slowly than Ktarians, but after being placed in a maturation chamber, children could develop much more quickly, no matter their species. He wasn't even sure how old he really was. He was much more than five, he knew that from those few days he'd lived on Brunal, but he might only be twelve or so. His parents had never bothered to tell him his true age. That, of course, was the least of the facts they'd failed to share with him.

He shook his head slightly and bit into his last pierogi. It was best not to think about that. He was almost grown, however fast it had happened, and at least he had Seven to care for him until he finished the job.

He'd like to go to her to find out what she knew, but Naomi was counting on him to stay with her for a while. He wandered over to the snacks table and scooped up several more pierogi. He'd helped make them. He deserved to eat a bunch of them, too.

After refilling their plates, Icheb sat down with Naomi and speculated on ways Talaxians could travel so far away from their home planet. Had they left as colonists before the Haakonian takeover? Or had they found a short cut, like a wormhole, that led them to a planet in this region of space? All the time they chatted, however, Icheb felt an empty place growing in the area of his stomach, despite the fact that he was filling it with starchy treats. He couldn't shake the feeling that a big change was coming, and he wasn't sure he would like whatever it might turn out to be.

=/\=


	30. Another Goodbye

=/\=

Neelix stopped by the Mess Hall while Icheb and Naomi were cleaning up from the party. "Tuvok, Tom, and I are taking the _Delta Flyer_ on an away mission to the asteroid where the Talaxian life signs are located. I've got to leave now, so I can't spare the time to help you with the clean-up. You can go ahead with the 'after party' without me."

"We wouldn't feel right about that, Neelix. We'll have our special pierogi when you get back," Naomi said.

"Well, if you change your mind, you just go ahead and have some. I'll be back before you know it! Who knows? Maybe I'll bring back some of the Talaxians to visit us on _Voyager_!"

Icheb and Naomi agreed it would be very interesting to meet others like Neelix. Icheb could see how excited Neelix was by the prospect. As the two youngsters waved goodbye to Neelix, Icheb was reminded of his conversation with Neelix at Joe Carey's wake, about not having any family to go home to. He didn't want to say anything about that to Naomi, Neelix's goddaughter. As it happened, he didn't need to.

"I wonder if he's going to decide to stay with them?" Naomi asked sadly, crumpling onto a chair as soon as Neelix was on his way.

Icheb remembered that odd feeling he'd had when he'd first heard about finding Talaxians out here, so far from their home planet. That was what had bothered him, too. As he sat down next to her, all he said was, "I'm sure he'll stay with you and your mother. He just wants to visit with his own people." As soon as he said it, Icheb thought it was a silly thing to say. Naomi's skeptical expression told him she thought it was a ridiculous thing to say, too.

"Neelix was always very close to his family, especially to his sister Alixia. All of them were killed in the Metreon Cascade that destroyed everything on Rinax, Neelix's home. Mom told me that he was very different when he first came on _Voyager_ with Kes. He was very cynical, she told me, and if Kes hadn't been so sweet, it's possible the captain would never have allowed him to stay on board. He was so jealous of Tom about Kes, or of anyone who became her friend, he caused a lot of trouble. Mom says he started to be less awful after he became my godfather, and after some things happened that she wouldn't tell me about. Except when Mezoti was here, she helped me sneak into the logs and I found out about what happened. He was involved with another Talaxian named Wixiban, who was a criminal. The captain's helped Neelix 'straighten out,' according to Mom, but after Seven brought him back to life, he wanted to die because he didn't see his family waiting for him in the afterlife."

Icheb nodded. "He told me about that once."

"Did he? I'm glad he can talk about it now. If Mom and I hadn't come to the Transporter Room to ask him to come and check my room for monsters, he would have transported himself out into space. He would have killed himself." Naomi sighed softly and looked away from him before saying, "You know, Icheb, I don't know my dad, because I was born out here and he's in the Alpha Quadrant. I've spoken with him a few times over Project Watson, but Neelix is really the only father I've ever known. I don't want to lose him!" Tears began to glisten in Naomi's eyes, and Icheb picked up her hand and squeezed it gently. She wiped her eyes with the other hand and said, "I guess you think I'm being selfish."

"No, I understand, Naomi." Icheb confided. "I wanted Mezoti to stay here with Seven and me. If it's selfish, then it is. It's the way we feel though. I still miss Mezoti every day. I was thinking about her when I walked into the party, when I saw you in your pink sweater. I tried to imagine Mezoti wearing one just like it."

She smiled up at him. "No, her sweater would have been purple. Really dark purple, too. And it wouldn't have been fuzzy. It would have been sleek and shiny."

He nodded agreement, and the two young people chuckled at the thought of Naomi in her pink fuzzy sweater, and Mezoti in a deep purple, satiny dress. Icheb dropped Naomi's hand then, since her mood had changed and she didn't seem to need him to hold it anymore. She began to rub her hands together, silent for a moment, before she asked him, "What should I do if Neelix asks me if he should leave or stay on _Voyager_?"

Icheb looked away from her. He gazed in the direction of the Mess Hall windows, but he wasn't aware of any stars. He thought about that last moment with Mezoti in the Transporter Room, when she'd had doubts about leaving, but left _Voyager_ anyway. He still missed her very much, but there was only one answer he could give Naomi. "If he really wants to leave us, then it means he's found something he lost all those years ago, before he came on _Voyager_."

Naomi's eyes shone again with unshed tears, but she straightened her spine and nodded. "You're right. I'd have to let him go. If it comes to that, I hope I'll be able to do it."

"I know you'll do the right thing," Icheb said with a smile. "And now, I think we need to finish cleaning up. When we're finished, do you want to have some of those special pierogi after all?"

"No. We should save them for Neelix, for when he comes back - no matter what he decides to do when he does."

=/\=

A few days after the party, Icheb was leaving the Mess Hall when he saw Naomi accompanying a small person who had to be the Talaxian youngster Neelix had brought with him from the asteroid colony. When she saw him, Naomi called out, "Hi, Icheb. Meet Brax. He's visiting _Voyager_ with his mother."

Her smile was bright - perhaps a little too much so. This was her competition for Neelix's affections, he realized. It wouldn't do to be anything but polite in this social situation. He extended his hand, as he had to Q, and said, "Hi there. Nice to meet you, Brax."

Unlike Icheb's first meeting with Q, Brax took Icheb's hand immediately and shook it enthusiastically. "Nice to meet you, too. That's right, isn't it, Naomi?"

"Yes, that's exactly right," Naomi responded, and her smile became much more natural. "We're going to play Kadis-Kot in the Mess Hall, Icheb. Would you like to join us?"

"I can't, Naomi. I just finished my lunch. Seven expects me in Astrometrics. Have a good game, Brax. Be careful about Naomi. She's really good at playing Kadis-Kot."

"Oh, I'm sure she'll let me win a game or two, like my mom always does," Brax answered brightly. He waved goodbye to Icheb as he followed Naomi down the corridor to the Mess Hall doorway.

Icheb moved on to his assignment, too, wondering what would happen if the colonists were forced to move out of their asteroid. Nocona, the leader of the miners extracting minerals from the asteroid field, had given them an ultimatum: leave, or have their home blasted away from around them. It seemed illogical for the miners to do something so radical. Couldn't they find another way to get what they wanted out of the asteroid? Maybe the Talaxians could help them from inside the asteroid. Some of the veins must be internal. Maybe they'd even be in the Talaxian's way as they expanded their colony.

A bigger question was what Neelix would choose to do. Icheb had heard that Brax's mother Dexa was very pretty, and she was a widow. Would Neelix decide to stay with them? It wasn't any of Icheb's business, of course. Neelix would decide what was best for himself. Still, Icheb couldn't help feeling a little bereft. They'd lost Joe Carey only a little while ago. And now they might lose Neelix, too. He'd never gotten over losing Mezoti. How many more members of his _Voyager_ family would he have to say goodbye to before the ship reached the Alpha Quadrant?

=/\=

For a while, Icheb hoped the result of the ultimatum would be that _Voyager_ would help the five hundred Talaxian colonists move to an M-class planet not far away. The crew had helped the Klingons they'd encountered get to their new home. Unlike the Klingons, the Talaxians were unlikely to want to take over _Voyager_. According to Tom, the colonists were unwilling to come to their own defense. They feared being too aggressive. Tom didn't know if that had been a factor in the war between the Haakonian Order and the Talaxians. If it was, that might explain their reluctance to defend themselves now. If the colonists chose to be transported to a new home planet, would a few of them choose to remain on board _Voyager_ afterward as members of the crew? Maybe Dexa would decide to stay, along with her son Brax. Once Icheb saw her, he thought she was a very pretty woman, and perfect for Neelix. It would be nice to have another child around the ship, too. Brax seemed to be a smart and nice kid.

In the end, another solution was found. Neelix helped the colonists set up a system of shields, preventing the miners from blasting away their asteroid home. Neelix came back to _Voyager_ after that, but when Icheb met him and welcomed him back, he saw how ambivalent Neelix was about his future. That sinking feeling came back to Icheb's stomach as he realized his friend might very well leave _Voyager_.

The night after Neelix came back on board, Naomi came to Borg Central. She was crying, and Icheb didn't have to ask her why. This had to be about Neelix.

When she'd calmed down enough to speak, she said, "Icheb, he came to see me tonight while I was doing my homework. I think he was still trying to decide what to do. I thought about the talk we had after the First Contact Day party. You know, about maybe it was selfish to want him to stay with us instead of being with his own people, and I think I fooled him. He offered to read me a story, like he did when I was little. He even asked me if I wanted to be tucked in for the night. I told him . . . I told him . . ." She began to struggle to keep from crying again, but finally she was able to continue. "I told him thanks, but I wasn't a little girl anymore. I could put myself to bed. So he left. And I came here so . . ." Naomi's brave front completely broke down then. Icheb put his arm around her and let her cry her heart out.

When she stopped crying, Icheb sat back and told her, "I'm proud of you, Naomi. It's not easy saying goodbye to someone you love, even if you know it's right for them to go."

"I know you know about that. I guess we both know." They didn't have to say anymore. Saying goodbye to Mezoti had been so hard for both of them. Now, saying goodbye to Neelix would bond them again in the pain of loss.

They sat and spoke a little longer about their feelings. It was good for Icheb to express them to Naomi, since Seven continued to struggle with such conversations. Or maybe, when she wanted to talk about such things, she now turned to Commander Chakotay. It was something Icheb didn't like to think about.

A short while later, Icheb accompanied Naomi to the quarters she shared with her mother. Sam was at the door when they entered, looking stern until Naomi told her mother why she'd visited Icheb so late. Ensign Wildman gathered her daughter into the comfort of her arms and nodded contritely to Icheb as he turned to go. She mouthed "thank you" to Icheb as he waved goodbye.

When Icheb returned to the cargo bay he shared with Seven, she wasn't there. He wished she was. He wouldn't have minded having Seven put her arms around him right then, either.

=/\=

Icheb brought the package to Neelix's quarters just in time. The Talaxian was just finishing his packing. "Here, Neelix. I brought you your share of our special pierogi. There's a small jar of your special red sauce, too."

"I thought you must have already eaten them," Neelix responded, but from the expression on his face, Icheb thought he was touched.

"No, we were saving them for our 'after party.' Now I guess you'll have it with Dexa and Brax. We counted them out. There were forty-one. We gave you half. Twenty-one, actually. Naomi and I will eat the rest. Maybe we'll share a couple with Harry, Tom and B'Elanna. Maybe."

Neelix accepted the package, which Icheb had thoughtfully placed inside an insulated bag. "I'll tell Dexa and Brax all about how much fun it was making these with the two of you. I'm glad you got to meet them."

"I'm glad, too, Neelix." Icheb stopped speaking. Neelix, usually so garrulous, didn't have anything to say at that moment, either, as he tucked the treats into the top of his duffel bag. The awkward silence reflected Icheb's roiling emotions.

Perhaps Neelix felt it as well, but he finally said, "It's hard to say goodbye to everyone, Icheb. You've come such a long way since I told you about our 'ghost' on Deck 12." Neelix laughed a little, and Icheb smiled at the memory of that strange and, now that he looked back at it, wonderful night. "And this isn't a permanent goodbye, you know. Thanks to the Project Watson equipment the captain was allowed to share with the colony, I'll be able to keep in touch with _Voyager_. According to Seven, we'll be able to communicate all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. That's why the captain recommended me to serve as ambassador."

"And I know you'll do a great job. Maybe we can play Kadis-Kot sometimes, when Seven is too busy to play it with you."

"I'd like that," Neelix agreed, and then fell silent again. Icheb found he had trouble finding words to continue their conversation, too. He knew it was time to actually say goodbye. He had to get into place along the corridor leading to the shuttlebay. The captain had planned a surprise for Neelix's last moments on board _Voyager,_ and Icheb didn't want to miss it. He was about to say he had to go when Neelix spoke up. "Icheb, I'm sorry I won't be able to be that 'Typhoid Icheb' to the Borg now, if _Voyager_ ever runs into them again."

"That's all right, Neelix. I hope the Borg never find your asteroid, but if they do, you'll use that means to protect your people. I'm sure someone else on this crew will volunteer to receive the serum one day."

At that point, Icheb really had run out of words, and Neelix apparently couldn't call any to mind, either. The Talaxian, who had become a good friend to Icheb, just as he had to everyone on _Voyager_ , wrapped his arms around the Brunali adolescent and gave him a sincere hug goodbye. There was nothing else to do then but go.

Icheb managed to scuttle away to a different turbolift than the one Neelix was using. Icheb arrived at the shuttle bay entrance just as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok moved his feet in a subtle dance move, saying goodbye to Neelix in his own, very staid, yet personal way. Icheb saw the look of wonder on Neelix's face. Neelix and Tuvok had often had an adversarial relationship, but Icheb had always suspected the Vulcan's dour reactions to Neelix's over-enthusiasms did not diminish his respect for the person Neelix had become. Icheb was glad he was there in time to see the proof.

=/\=


	31. Research Findings

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54884.7_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _I guess I've been showing how much I miss Neelix by the way I've been acting. Everyone asks me how I'm doing whenever they pass me in the corridors. Naomi and I hiked a portion of Tom's Yellowstone Park hiking trail by ourselves this morning, and we agreed that losing Neelix had been as difficult as losing Mezoti._

 _When I went to Astrometrics after the hike, Harry came by and asked me - of course - how I was doing. I explained I'm doing "as well as expected." Harry commiserated with me. He asked me if I play a lot of Kadis-Kot with Naomi. I do sometimes, but the game is a little simple for me now. I remembered what young Brax said about his mother letting him win games sometimes, and I must admit I've done that with Naomi occasionally, too. She's good at the game, however, and she beats me 'fair and square' most of the time._

 _Harry offered to teach me a Vulcan game, Kal-Toh. I've heard of it, and I've seen Harry play it with Commander Tuvok a couple of times while visiting Neelix's resort program. No one ever asked me if I'd like to learn how to play it before. It sounds like a challenge. When I mentioned it to Seven tonight, she agreed it would be a "positive recreational activity to cultivate." I'm not surprised. The object of the game is to attain perfection by creating a Kal-Toh sphere. She told me not to become too discouraged. It takes years for most people to learn. I asked her if she ever played it. She admitted she had, but she wouldn't give me any details. I think I'll have to ask Harry. I think there's a story there. Harry admitted that he's never beaten Tuvok at Kal-Toh, but, as he said, "practice makes perfect." I've heard that often enough. Still, I'd like to try. I told Harry I'd love to learn how to play the game._

=/\=

For several hours, Icheb had been in the lab adjacent to Sickbay, peering through the microscope to study the Borg-killing genes buried inside his genome. He'd come to the conclusion that the creation of "chaos out of order" needed to occur much more quickly to be effective against the Borg. It couldn't take hours; the change needed to come within minutes to protect _Voyager_ and its crew.

He'd completed several experiments, tweaking the genes involved to see if he could accomplish a speedier destruction of the nanoprobes injected for assimilation. The last one showed great promise. When the unmodified nanoprobes had been introduced into the tweaked blood sample, they'd barely begun to multiply before distortions in the initial stages of implant formation were noticeable. He speculated that this is might be what happened when he was assimilated. The improper development of his implants in the maturation chamber prevented him from becoming fully Borg.

From the data node obtained from their cube before its destruction, he knew Mezoti had been in a maturation chamber longer than he had. Mezoti's cortical node had been much closer to completion before she'd been thrust out of her deteriorating maturation chamber. Although he used to be able to communicate subvocally with the twins and First, Mezoti was the one with whom he'd had the easiest time. She'd also had the capacity to shut him out of her mind whenever she wanted. Thus, the implants which formed first did appear to be those related to the cortical array, and then the node, the center of communication with the hive. From what he was seeing in his experiments, Icheb was convinced the breakdown of the link between drones had been the key factor in the death of the drones on their cube.

That thought brought another to mind. The twins and First had been assimilated even earlier than Mezoti had. Icheb once noted that each drone's development in a maturation chamber did not always follow the same pattern. That's why First knew things Icheb did not, when First took over leadership of their Children's Collective, and why Icheb possessed knowledge about the cube's systems that First had not understood. The twins communicated seamlessly with one another, although despite that close bond, they apparently did not realize when Mezoti was "listening in" to what they thought were private conversations with each other.

Did genetics play a part? The way the twins behaved suggested it might, since they shared the same basic genome. When adults were assimilated, medical drones immediately fitted each new "recruit" with a set of attachments to serve different functions within the Collective. Was that done on a totally random basis, according to need, or did genetic predisposition play a part in the assignment of a given drone's tasks?

It was all really quite fascinating to consider. Icheb understood why the Doctor could spend hours luxuriating in such details. Icheb wouldn't mind studying this subject more closely either, if the Borg didn't pose such a danger to every independently functioning sentient being in the galaxy. Because of that danger, Icheb meant to find a way to end the Collective, if he could. If all drones were separated from that singular mind of the Queen, would they be able to function independently, as Seven and Icheb himself now did? Would they need special medical treatment to survive as Seven , and to a lesser extent, Icheb himself had? It was a puzzle he would examine carefully, as long as it did not distract him from his primary purpose: producing a serum that would rapidly cause the destruction of a given cube's ability to overpower and enslave other beings.

His spine began to ache from the way he was bent over his instrument. Icheb arose from his stool and stretched. He still had an implant along his vertebrae, although, like so many of a Borg's normal systems, it had failed to develop the way it should have in him. The Doctor had not removed the one bothering him now because of its position along his spinal cord. Normally, it didn't cause problems for him. Unlike Seven, who felt pain when she wasn't wearing a built-up heel, Icheb had no trouble walking barefoot or placing his heel flat on the ground. As he straightened his back, Icheb couldn't help smiling at the thought that while Seven may have required a raised heel for comfort, a spike heel had not been necessary. That was undoubtedly something the Doctor had chosen to do for aesthetic reasons, and possibly for his own pleasure!

After his recent "deathbed confession" of love to Seven, when he thought his program was contaminated beyond repair and he would "die," everyone knew the EMH had loved Seven "for years." It was unfortunate for the Doctor that this confession, like the others he'd made at the time, turned out to be premature. B'Elanna had been able to remove the superfluous files degrading his program; and he continued to be the same lovable, but occasionally clueless, EMH they'd all come to appreciate. Now the Doctor had to live with the knowledge that some of his deepest secrets were known to everyone on _Voyager's_ crew.

Had the EMH been attracted to Seven right from the very beginning? When he'd removed much of the Borg machinery from her body after her separation from the Collective, the Doctor had certainly had restored her to a very beautiful human appearance. He'd taken care to construct a visual implant for her left orbital socket that matched her organic right eye, for example. Wherever the Doctor had been forced to do a little plastic surgery, he'd apparently been quite faithful to the adult she would have become if she'd never encountered the Borg. From what Aunt Irene had mentioned during their most recent Project Watson visit, Seven's face and figure closely resembled her parents' physical attributes. She'd said, "My brother Magnus was so very handsome, and my sister-in-law Erin was lovely. You look exactly like I would expect their child to look as an adult. I wish . . . well, I wish you could have known them longer, Annika."

Icheb thought Seven wished that, too. As much as she appreciated the technological advantages she'd received from the Borg, he suspected she would rather have remained totally human, especially now that she was experiencing romantic feelings for _Voyager's_ first officer. He just hoped she wouldn't experience another medical crisis because of her emotion inhibitor chip shutting down again, as she had when she'd been spending all that time on the holodeck, engaging in romantic fantasies.

"Icheb? Are you well?" Seven asked.

Startled, Icheb whipped his head around guiltily. He felt like he must have drawn Seven to him because of the thoughts he'd been having about her attraction to Chakotay. "I . . . I'm fine. My spinal implant was bothering me from staying in one position too long."

"You must be more careful. You know the Doctor does not believe he can completely remove it because of its proximity to your spinal cord."

"I am aware of that, Seven," he replied, submerging the impulse to show any irritation towards her. "That's why I was standing here instead of sitting."

She came closer and bent down to the eyepiece. "Are you still researching the DNA in your chromosomes?"

"In this sample, I made another microgenetic alteration to the seventeenth chromosome. It seems to act on Borg implants more rapidly than the changes my parents made in me. I hope to improve the pathogen-producing serum, in case we ever need to use it."

She studied the image in the instrument for several more seconds before standing completely erect and gazing sharply at him. "You aren't planning to give it to yourself, are you?" Her voice had taken on the disapproving tone she used when she objected to any action Icheb might have taken without her consent, not that she needed to use it often.

He broke eye contact with her for a few seconds before gazing back at her. "Only if it is necessary to protect everyone on _Voyager_."

"Icheb . . . "

"Hopefully it will never be needed."

She raised her brow skeptically. "From my . . . personal acquaintance with the Queen, I doubt we will be that fortunate." She did not, however, absolutely forbid him from proceeding. That was notable. He suspected that if it ever was needed, she would be willing to volunteer; and he would be just as sure to object to that action on her part as well. To avoid becoming embroiled in a contest of wills, Icheb decided to change the subject.

"How did your medical evaluation with the Doctor go - if you will permit me to ask. You know the Doctor will scream about 'doctor-patient confidentiality' if I ask him how it went."

She relaxed, and a slight smile graced her lips. "As well as expected." She hesitated, then said, "That is why I came to see you. I need to tell you something." She paused again before saying, "I've changed my mind about having the emotion inhibiter chip removed from the cortical node you donated to me. The Doctor has been evaluating methodology and believes he can excise it in only one treatment. I will undergo the procedure the day after tomorrow."

Icheb wasn't really surprised, but he thought he should say something. After all, the part did originate inside of him. "Does this have anything to do with the Doctor's confession concerning his feelings for you? Do you wish to form a relationship with him?"

"No. I have someone else in mind." Icheb knew what she would say next, if she said anything at all about who the person was, but he waited patiently until she admitted, "I find Commander Chakotay a very attractive individual. While I do not know if he would reciprocate, I would like to find out without suffering any physical problems, as I did when I spent so much time in the holo . . ." Her voice trailed off, but then she added, briskly, "I don't know where it may lead, but I would like to have the capacity to form a relationship with a real person."

"Didn't you have a relationship with your friend Axum?"

"That was a virtual reality. It could not be a true relationship in any . . . physical sense. _IF_ he's still alive, he is too far away from me. We will never meet in person, as we once hoped."

Seven glanced away from Icheb again, and he saw her mood change. Mezoti had claimed Seven had very deep feelings for Axum after the matter of Unimatrix Zero. As usual, it seemed Mezoti's perceptions had been correct. "Seven, if Axum _were_ close by, would you like to form a real relationship with him?

"He's not. It is pointless to pursue that line of inquiry."

What could he say to this? Nothing. Without saying anything else, she turned on her heel and slipped out of the lab.

Icheb sat down on the stool again and contemplated all she'd said, and even more, what she had not said. He hadn't thought to inquire about whether her plans to adopt him may have changed as a result of her feelings for the commander. He decided he should not press her for an answer now. She'd just made a momentous decision to change her life. The Doctor was going to remove the emotion inhibitor chip, which would relieve Icheb of one worry. He'd been very concerned about the possibility that because of this part, Seven's cortical array could shut down completely at some point. He hadn't suffered any negative repercussions from the loss of the cortical node inside his own skull. He was pleased Seven would be able to experience more happiness in her life, without having her emotional responses restricted in any way.

The procedure and the change it would bring to Seven was going to happen. It was her choice. She might be attracted to the commander, but it was also possible he would not respond to Seven's overtures. Icheb had always thought the captain and the first officer had a special relationship. He'd sensed an attraction between the two, and Tom and B'Elanna had confirmed it was a common belief of the crew's. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay once were forced to spend months alone together on a planet because of a medical condition that threatened to kill them if they left. Only through the hard work of the crew and the help of a doctor friend of the EMH's was a cure secured, permitting them to return to _Voyager_. And even if the commander did respond, relationships didn't always last forever. He'd heard enough stories about Harry's misadventures in love to know that.

Icheb told himself firmly that, if Seven decided not to go through with adopting him because of her relationship with the commander, he'd survive. _'I'm doing well in my Academy courses. I can make it on my own if I must,'_ he thought.

He just hoped he won't have to.

=/\=


	32. A Message from Neelix

=/\=

 **Star Date 54972**

 **"Mezoti, there is a message for you at our communication console," Arebi said, when Mezoti came home from school that day.**

 **"From** _ **Voyager**_ **?" When Mezoti said this, her whole demeanor brightened. Almost immediately, it dulled. From the way Arebi's face fell, she knew the message could not have anything to do with** _ **Voyager**_ **.**

 **Mezoti forced herself to smile again as Arebi replied, "I'm afraid it isn't. Do you know of a Norvalen trader named Masseni?"**

 **"I've never heard of him."**

 **"Well, he's the one who is contacting you. Since you say you don't know him, I'd like to stand next to you as you review this communication. I want to make sure no harm will come to you from this stranger."**

 **"Thank you, Arebi. I would like Mazani to come in, too. If there is bad news in the message, I'd like you both to be here while I listen to it."**

 **Arebi called Mazani in, supposedly from her art studio. Mezoti thought she must have been standing in the hallway, since she arrived so quickly. As Arebi bent over to retrieve the message, Mezoti told herself to be Borg again, and not cry if this message was a sad one.**

 **She was surprised when the message was a visual recording, not simply words on the screen. Even better, there were two faces in view, and one of them was Neelix!**

 **"Hello, Mezoti," the Talaxian said. "I hope this message finds you, Azan, and Rebi well, and your parents Arebi and Mazani, too! This fellow standing next to me is Masseni. He travels through the sectors between Wysanti and here, trading with people in many systems. He told me he passes by your planet every few months, so he's agreed to help us exchange messages whenever he is near you and where I am now, on Talax II.**

 **"You and the twins are not the only ones who've decided to leave** _ **Voyager**_ **and remain in the Delta Quadrant to live. A short time ago, on First Contact Day, as a matter of fact, Commander Chakotay discovered a group of Talaxian colonists who live inside an asteroid. You know, I've always missed my family, Mezoti, so when I met my wonderful Dexa and her son Brax, I decided to stay here with them. Let me call them over so I can introduce you to them."**

 **Two other beings came into view. She had no memories of a non-Borg Talaxian female, so it was fascinating to see one. Mezoti thought Dexa was very pretty. Her son Brax looked like he was close to Mezoti in age. When Neelix introduced him, Brax waved at her and said, "Hi, Mezoti! Nice to meet you!" Mezoti found herself starting to wave back, but then she stopped and glanced up at Mazani. How embarrassing! A Borg, saying hello to an image on a screen when the message had been recorded weeks, maybe even months ago! She heard Arebi chuckling behind her, and then she felt his hand squeezing her shoulder.**

 **The message went on for several more minutes. Neelix had recorded some visuals of the interior of the asteroid where the Talaxians lived. Dexa gave her a "tour" of their family quarters, too, which were very comfortably furnished. From the way all three of them acted towards one another, Mezoti thought Neelix must be very happy.**

 **"Masseni has promised to deliver any messages you want to send to me, Mezoti. Hearing from you would make me very happy, and I can think of some people on** _ **Voyager**_ **who would love to hear from you, too.** _ **Voyager**_ **can still maintain contact with me here. Seven and I sometimes play Kadis-kot during our communication window. So, if you want to send a message to Icheb and Seven through me, you can, and I'll make sure it gets to them. I miss you and everyone on** _ **Voyager**_ **, but I don't regret making this change in my life. Say hello to the twins. From what Icheb has told me about their favorite activities, I'm sure they're out somewhere playing sports right now. Mezoti, take care of yourself. I look forward to hearing from you soon."**

 **When the message was over, Mezoti turned to Arebi. "Do you know where this asteroid is located? Would it be possible for us to visit them there?"**

 **Before he had a chance to answer, another message came in. This time it was from the Norvalen trader, Masseni.** _ **:::Hello there, Miss Mezoti. I had a tag put on the message from Neelix so I would know when you viewed it. I'm in orbit over Wysanti right now. I'll be in your system for the next three of your days, and I'd be happy to pass your message on to Neelix if I receive it before I leave.:::**_

 **Hesitantly, Mezoti replied, "Is this a live two-way message, Mr. Masseni?"**

 _ **:::Yes it is. And I'm just Masseni to you and your family. No need for fancy titles.:::**_

 **Arebi bent his head into the viewing area. "This is Arebi, Mezoti's foster father. If you plan to be in our system for a few days, you must come share a meal with us. We'd love to hear more of what you know about Neelix."**

 _ **:::I accept! Neelix is quite a character. He's taken a leadership position in that asteroid colony, you know, and he's managed to smooth over difficulties with some miners who wanted to blow them up. Now they're in business together. I expect he and his lady friend will be getting married very soon and . . . well, I can tell you more when I see you.:::**_

 **"Tomorrow, then," Arebi said. "I will send you our coordinates. We look forward to meeting you."**

 _ **:::As do I. Until tomorrow.:::**_

 **As soon as the screen went dark, Mezoti turned to Mazani and Arebi. "I have to start working on my message. I don't want to leave anything out. There's so much I want to tell Neelix!" Mezoti ran to her room to plan out what she was going to say.**

 **The door to Mezoti's room was close to the main living area. With her enhanced hearing, Mezoti always knew what was said in there, even when people whispered, although she'd never mentioned this to Mazani or Arebi. Very soon after she left the room, she heard Mazani say, "Did we do the wrong thing by offering to adopt Mezoti? I wanted a daughter again; and she's wonderful; but she isn't very happy. I thought she would have adapted to life with us by now. You can see how alive she became, just by seeing the image of her friend Neelix, and by hearing his voice."**

 **Arebi hesitated, then said, "We didn't make the mistake. I'm afraid she did, by agreeing to live with us."**

 **Mezoti heard the faint squeak of the lounging chair. Mazani must have sat down next to her husband. "You're probably right. She's content here - I think - but to be truly happy, she must accept being of the Wysanti. Mezoti and our grandsons talk about how the Borg 'adapt,' but I'm afraid Mezoti may not be Borg enough to do that anymore. She clings to her memories of** _ **Voyager**_ **\- to memories of her true family."**

 **Mezoti heard a big sigh. "Yes, we're treasured friends, but nothing more. Seven and Icheb have her love. I don't think she understood the difference when she decided to stay."**

 **Mezoti could hear the misery in Mazani's voice. "I care for her so very much. It's hard to realize she'll never see me as her mother. If only her people weren't so far away! They'll never be able to travel back to get her now, even if we could tell them they should come for her."**

 **"Perhaps if she can maintain contact with** _ **Voyager**_ **through Neelix, her worries about Seven and Icheb will fade. Maybe she'll be more pleased with life here," Arebi offered.**

 **"Do you think we could bring Mezoti for a visit to Neelix's asteroid?"**

 **"No, I'm sorry to say. If it's taken Masseni months to travel from there, it must be far beyond where the Wysanti have ever traveled."**

 **"That's unfortunate."**

 **There was a pause in the couple's conversation, but they must still be sitting there together. Mezoti hadn't heard the lounging chair's tell-tale squeak from someone getting up. Eventually, she heard Arebi say, with a catch in his voice, "If the people from** _ **Voyager**_ **do come back for her someday, how will you feel about losing another daughter?"**

 **"Devastated. But we've already learned one of the most important lessons any parent must learn. A time comes in any child's life when the parents must let her go, to live a life away from them. We must say goodbye to Mezoti someday. If** _ **Voyager**_ **comes back for her, it will simply happen much sooner than it does with most children. We're her foster parents. Her guardians. We never did legally adopt her. Perhaps that was fortunate."**

 **"True. I don't believe she really wanted that close a tie with us."**

 **"Don't mistake me, Arebi. She's been a great comfort. The boys became young men long before their time. I'm happy they live with us, but we aren't 'raising' them so much as providing a home for them with their own people. Mezoti is so bright, and she holds conversations with us in ways the boys never do. But she's not ours in the way our own daughter was. If and when Mezoti decides to leave us, I will cherish the time we had with her - but I** _ **will**_ **let her go. Above all, I want her to live a happy life. If leaving us is the way for her to achieve that, how can we stand in her way?"**

 **"We cannot. You're right, my love. We'd have to let her go."**

 **Mezoti sighed. What should she do? Should she remain silent, or should she let them know she'd overheard their conversation? It was meant to be a private one, just between the two of them, but she** _ **had**_ **heard. After considering the best action to take for a short time, she decided honesty was best. Slowly, she walked into the main living area. The couple was still sitting morosely on the couch, just where she thought they'd be.**

 **It was best just to come out with it. "I'm sorry I'm not the daughter you thought you were getting when I accepted your offer to live with you."**

 **Mazani stood up and stretched out her arms to enfold Mezoti. Arebi followed suit, putting his arms around both of them. "I'm sorry you heard, my dear," Arebi said softly. "I never knew your hearing was that good!"**

 **Despite herself, Mezoti smiled. "Fortunately, Azan and Rebi forget most of the time, too. It's the only way I know what's going on with them most of the time." She decided not to mention the fact that she could also listen to them subvocally. "Don't be sorry. I'm glad I heard. I felt all warm inside when I realized you understand. You're right. I'm not as Borg as I used to be, or maybe even as much as I want to be, when it comes to you. If I were truly Borg, I could have adapted better to your family. But if I were still Borg, I wouldn't recognize how good you are to me. I'm very lucky to be here. I know that."**

 **"Dear Mezoti, we don't wish you were still a Borg just so you could adapt to us!" Mazani smiled through her tears. "Life might be easier if people could just tell their hearts when to love someone and when to stop, but emotions don't work that way. We know Seven and Icheb have always had your heart."**

 **"Ever since the doctor removed my emotional inhibitor chip, I've struggled to understand what I was feeling. Even before I left** _ **Voyager**_ **, I think I knew I should stay there, but I was afraid of the bad things that happen to people on ships. I should have trusted Icheb and Seven and all the crew to protect me. I'm sorry I didn't listen to** _ **myself**_ **when I had doubts. Icheb warned me I could never expect to see him again if I left. Maybe if I communicate with Neelix sometimes, and he has a way of communicating with** _ **Voyager**_ **, we'll be able to exchange messages. That might make me feel better about not actually being with them. Seven and Axum can't even send messages to one another, because he's so far away from her. He's at the other end of the Beta Quadrant."**

 **"Your Neelix seems like a very nice person, from what we saw in the message. I hope this Masseni can help you keep in touch with him, and that way, with the** _ **Voyager**_ **people." Mazani wiped her eyes. "Well, if I'm going to serve a nice dinner to this Masseni tomorrow, I'd better research what the Norvalen like to eat." After giving Mezoti another big hug, Mazani hustled away. Mezoti was sure she was still crying.**

 **Arebi gestured to Mezoti to sit down next to him on the lounge chair. After she did, rather awkwardly, Arebi smiled sadly. Looking down at his hands, which he was rubbing together, he said, "I think there's something else you want to say to us. Do you want me to call Mazani back in?"**

 **"No, it's all right if I just talk to you about this for now. You're a pilot. You'll understand. My destiny has always been to live in space. I didn't understand that when so many things started to go wrong on** _ **Voyager.**_ **Now I do. I don't believe I will live on any planet for my entire life, but for as long as I'm here, I'm glad it will be with the two of you."**

 **"We're happy to have you, my dear. Now, I think you should go back to your room and work on that message you want to send to Neelix. He'll be as happy to get one from you as you were to hear from him."**

 **Before she left him to work out what she wanted to tell Neelix, Mezoti gave Arebi another hug, comforting herself as much as she hoped it would bring comfort to him. This had been a very difficult conversation, but a necessary one. It was better for the truth to be out in the open and recognized. Losing their daughter to the Borg was a tragedy Mezoti could never have comprehended while she was Borg. Now she did. Mazani and Arebi were such good people. Mezoti promised herself she would try to be the best daughter to them that she could be. Mezoti really did love them, in her own way. It simply wasn't as much as they deserved - not as much as she loved Seven and Icheb.**

=/\=


	33. Mezoti's Reply

=/\=

 **Mezoti sat down to review her message for Neelix, before sending it up to Masseni's ship. He'd agreed to deliver it when he approached the Talaxians' asteroid, upon his return to the area in a couple of months.**

* * *

 _ **Stardate 54980**_

 _ **Dear Neelix,**_

 _ **It was so good to hear from you. Your new home seems very nice. Masseni came to dinner at our house and told us you have been very helpful to the colonists inside your asteroid. That's why Captain Janeway used your expertise when she made you Voyager's liaison to new species when we encountered them on our journey. It's good to know you are now officially an ambassador for the Federation, even though you aren't on Voyager any longer.**_

 _ **Masseni told us you may be marrying Dexa soon. She seems very nice. I'm sure she's helping you adapt to your new world. I have very good foster parents, Neelix. Arebi and Mazani love me and take good care of me, but I still miss everyone on Voyager terribly, especially Icheb and Seven. I hope exchanging letters with you will help. Since you say you can still talk to Seven, I'd like you to help me exchange messages with my family on Voyager, too.**_

 _ **My teachers in school are very nice, and they've encouraged the other students to be more friendly with me, but somehow, I'm not close to any of them in the way I was to Naomi on Voyager. I don't know if it's me or if it's them. Azan and Rebi have friendships from their sports teams, but even though I do play on teams at school, the other females haven't really accepted me. So maybe it IS me. I do like my school, though. I'm learning lots of new things, especially about the natural world here, but it is a funny thing. The more I learn about plants and animals and bugs here, the more I miss learning about space, and living on a ship.**_

 _ **Mazani told me that her daughter had a "pen pal" on another planet when she was a girl. When Arebi, who is a pilot, traveled to this planet, the two girls exchanged messages. They were friends for life, Mazani told me. Xericla still stays in touch with Mazani and sends letters to her about her family. She was very happy to hear that her friend's sons survive, even though her good friend did not. When Mazani told this story to Masseni, he suggested that Brax might want to be my "pen pal," too. If I'm sending messages to you, I could send a separate one about my life here to him, and he could send answers back to me. Would you ask him if he'd like that? If he does, have him send me a letter back the next time you communicate with me and I'll answer his, too. You can share this letter with him if you like.**_

 _ **I have to send this letter up to Masseni. He's leaving for his next stop tomorrow morning. He's a very nice man. We enjoyed our dinner with him, and we hope to see him again very soon.**_

 _ **Neelix, it made me so happy to hear from you and see where you are living now. I look forward to hearing from you again.**_

 _ **Your friend, Mezoti.**_

* * *

 **After reviewing her message, Mezoti stood up and walked over to the window. The trees in the woods behind the house were sparkling with a new coating of ice and snow. Mazani had told her it was rather late in the winter for a storm like this one, which had come upon them quite suddenly, right after Masseni had gone back up to his ship. Mezoti had to deliberately shut out the subvocal grousing of the twins, who were annoyed their sporting event, originally scheduled for tonight, had been postponed. The other team's community had received a much heavier snowfall, and the sports league authorities mutually agreed to reschedule their game.**

 **Somehow, the twins' annoyance, coupled with the icy scene outdoors, matched her own mood. Neelix's message had made her very happy, and Masseni had been wonderful company at dinner the previous night; but this afternoon, she missed everyone on Voyager more than ever.**

 **Trying to divert herself, she checked her sensor monitor to look in on the ant colony behind the house. The ants didn't seem to have been harmed by the sudden burst of bad weather. They hadn't really awakened from their winter sleep yet. She was glad of that. Perhaps she'd feel better when the bugs and flowers finally began to appear. She'd wanted to live on a planet, with weather and a natural world. She had that here, and now she wanted to live in space. How illogical! Would she never be satisfied with her life anywhere?**

 **Turning her thoughts back to her visual letter to Neelix, she wondered, "Maybe I should cut out that part about not having friends at school." After thinking about it for a few minutes, Mezoti decided to leave her message as it was. Naomi once told Mezoti that Neelix seemed to be able to understand a lot of things that people hadn't really said. Naomi called it "reading between the lines." Mezoti didn't mind if he realized how lonely she really was. Actually, from the way Masseni looked at her a few times at dinner, she thought he was pretty good at "reading between the lines," too. She suspected he'd tell Neelix what he'd observed anyway.**

 **She didn't have messages to send to Seven or Icheb. She didn't know what to say to them in the short time she had to prepare a letter to them. There was so much she would want to say to them, she didn't think she could fit it all in a message right now. Should she say she knows she made a mistake leaving Voyager? She didn't think she'd be able to hide that from them. Just thinking about it made her long to see them again.**

 **The possibility of communicating with them in any way was so overwhelming to her, she simply couldn't think about it now. It was enough, right now, to know that she had a way to share her thoughts with them in the future, to let them know they should come for her if they ever get the chance.**

 **Mezoti decided it would be better to plan on what to say to Seven and Icheb - and Naomi too, come to think of it, since she could write to her now, too - and put it all down so that when Masseni came back again, she'd have it all ready for him to take with him, to share her life with her Voyager family again. Especially, now that she knew her own mind: she wanted to live with them again, in any way she could - even if that way was simply in an exchange of letters. It was more than she'd ever expected, once Voyager had traveled out of subspace range with Wysanti.**

 **Mezoti returned to the family communicator and sent her message to Masseni, with an extra note to the pilot himself:**

* * *

 _ **Stardate 54980**_

 _ **Dear Masseni,**_

 _ **I've attached my letter to Neelix to this message. Thank you so much for being willing to bring it to him. If you want to read it yourself, you may. There aren't any big secrets in it!**_

 _ **I hope you had a good time at dinner with us last night. I enjoyed meeting you very much and hope you come back very soon to visit us again. Thanks again for helping me stay in touch with my friends from Voyager.**_

 _ **Your friend, Mezoti**_

 **=/\=**

* * *

 _(Thanks to Six of Twelve for suggesting Mezoti might become pen pals with Brax. I loved the idea.)_


	34. Kal-toh and Other Amusements

**=/\=**

Seven looked up from her console as Icheb entered Astrometrics. From the expression on his face, which was contemplative, almost grim, she came to a logical conclusion about the outcome of his first Kal-toh match with _Voyager's_ Chief Tactical Officer. "I'm certain Commander Tuvok was gracious to you after your defeat."

To her surprise, Icheb shook his head slowly. If not for her enhanced Borg hearing, she doubted she would have heard his soft reply. "Not exactly."

"I have never known the commander to be anything but conciliatory after a victory in Kal-toh."

"He didn't win. I did."

Seven stared at her protégé and soon-to-be adopted son. "You beat Commander Tuvok in your very first Kal-toh match?"

She'd attempted to expunge any incredulity from her voice, but from the way he answered her, apparently she had not succeeded. "You told me you beat him once, in a single move," he said mildly.

"Did you apply the principles of elementary spatial harmonics to the game? That was how I succeeded. I must admit the sound strategy Mr. Kim had followed prior to my intervention was of great assistance to my victory." Seven realized she'd never given Harry any credit for this at the time it happened. She doubted he'd want to be reminded about the incident now, after so much time had passed.

"If I did, it was my subconscious that accomplished it. I took what I thought would be a productive preliminary move, and Harry started hinting that I should do something else. The commander told me to ignore any suggestions from Ensign Kim, because he'd never succeeded in beating him even once. He sounded quite confident, but when my next move created a perfect sphere, he looked as shocked as I was. At first, I suspected he had deliberately let me win, the way Brax told me his mother let him win games sometimes to encourage him to continue playing, but the commander seemed quite perturbed by my victory. I assured him it must have been beginner's luck. Then I told him I had to come here. I think Harry was going to challenge him to a match, thinking he'd have a good chance to beat him, but I heard Tuvok in the corridor behind me. He must have declined the ensign's challenge."

Seven was silent for a few moments. "I doubt the commander would ever throw a Kal-toh match to encourage you to continue playing, the way Dexa apparently does with her son. Commander Tuvok would never admit to feeling pride in his ability to play the game so well, but I'm quite sure he does feel it. Too much to let a novice player win, certainly."

"I thought as much. If it wasn't my subconscious accessing elementary spatial harmonics, it must have actually been beginner's luck!"

Seven smiled at her son's modest reaction. "I'm quite sure it was your subconscious guiding your placement of the _t'an_ piece. Unless you _had_ changed your move to one Harry Kim had recommended . . . "

Icheb smile was broader. "No. It was a move I'd planned on making."

"A wise decision," Seven agreed, smiling. "You realize, of course, that the only other time anyone on this ship has beaten Tuvok at Kal-toh was when I managed it."

"I am aware of that," Icheb said, and began to chuckle a little. "Now, what did you want me to do today?"

"Will you finish setting up your gravimetric sensor array and begin scanning for wormholes? I believe your most recent refinements to the device will make it even more efficient than it has been up to now."

"I will be pleased to do so, Seven."

Seven looked at him for a moment, her smile broadening. "Perhaps you have been spending a little too much time with Commander Tuvok lately. You're beginning to sound like him."

"There are worse role models for me to follow, don't you think?"

With this, she heartily concurred.

=/\=

When Icheb entered the mess hall to get his dinner that evening, he was immediately surrounded by a group of his ship mates, led by Ensign Freddie Bristow. While the Kal-toh match between Tuvok and Icheb had taken place in the mess hall lounge area, and therefore had not exactly been a secret, the number of people congratulating him on his victory astounded him. Because of the number of salutations he received, Icheb was barely able to choose his meal from Gerron, who was on dinner duty that evening. He was reminded again about Naomi's frequent comment about how quickly gossip circulated among the crew. _Voyager_ was a very small ship, indeed, to judge from the evening's events.

When he was finally able to sit down at a table to begin consuming his food, Icheb quoted Naomi to Freddie, who had taken the seat next to him.

"Ah, I guess you don't know about the betting pool," Freddie sagely replied.

"Betting pool? About my game with Commander Tuvok?"

"Of course! I won more than fifty replicator ration credits from Engineering alone! No one else there thought you had a chance to beat him, let alone during the first match. Ensign Kim must have played the commander at least a hundred times in the past four years without ever getting even close to managing a win!"

Icheb smiled ruefully. "Then why did you take a chance on me?"

"Well, I admit, I didn't exactly go crazy with my wagers. I remembered that Seven beat him in one move a couple of years ago, so I figured you'd be able to do it at some point, too. All my bets were that you'd beat him in less than twenty matches. I never expected to collect right away. Way to go, Icheb!"

He wasn't sure how to respond to Freddie's praise, although he was able to mumble something about being glad to improve Freddie's replicator ration balance. Icheb still couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling Tuvok had allowed him to win. At the very least, Tuvok must have made an uncharacteristically careless move, which Icheb had been able to take advantage of. After taking several more bites of his dinner in silence, Icheb casually remarked, "I haven't participated in the betting pools yet, although I know they exist. I am considered a minor, and I'm not supposed to be gambling. That's what Seven's told me, anyway."

"This isn't that kind of gambling. It's pretty innocent most of the time. The main one going on right now concerns the date and time Chief Torres will deliver her baby. The maximum bet for that one is only ten credits per person, but since just about everyone is participating, the winner will take in a decent haul. I think Ensign Wildman put in one for Naomi. Even the captain's taking part. I heard she just placed hers, through Commander Chakotay. You should be able to put one in, too."

Shrewdly, Icheb asked, "Has Seven put in her wager?"

"Um, I'm not sure. I don't think so. Is it against Borg rules or something?"

At that, Icheb had to chuckle. "I don't recall the Borg having any concept of betting on anything. That takes free will, which no drone has! Maybe the Queen might indulge, but who would be brave enough to meet up with her to accept her bet? The surest outcome would be one more drone for the Collective!"

Freddie shook his head and laughed. "I guess that was a really stupid question! It isn't even something to joke about! You don't have to tell Seven about this, do you? I mean, you manage your own credits, don't you?"

"Oh, sure. I have quite a few credits I don't plan to use anytime soon - certainly more than that maximum allowable bet. And if Ensign Wildman has allowed Naomi to take a chance, I guess I can do it, too. I wouldn't want to be the only one on board, other than little Aimee or Seven, who isn't taking part."

"That's the spirit. And maybe you can get Seven to do it, too. Then the only other person who isn't in it would be Lieutenant Torres herself. I don't think anyone has been brave enough to tell her anything about it."

Icheb sipped the last few drops of his Nutritional Supplement Five shake before asking Freddie how one went about placing a wager. "Just go see Chell. He's been keeping the tally. Tom wanted to do it, but we told him he was too close to the situation. He had to put his guess in really early, before he could have any real inside information about when it would be."

"Lieutenant Paris bet on when his own baby was going to be delivered?"

"Are you kidding? Of course! The pool was his idea in the first place."

=/\=


	35. Wormhole Detector Alert

=/\=

When Seven began to set up the Kadis-kot board for her daily game with Neelix, Icheb checked the Astrometrics chronometer. It was much later than he expected. He hadn't had his dinner yet, and he had a paper he needed to finish by tomorrow afternoon. Commander Tuvok had asked him to compare the development of three pre-spaceflight planetary cultures with each other, and describe how their particular belief systems subsequently affected their attitudes towards alien societies after they'd become aware of other races. He'd finished most of his research and had outlined or written the sections on Earth and Vulcan. At first, the third society was to be the Klingons, but then he decided it might be more interesting to include the Bajorans instead, since he'd already written one paper about the history of the Klingon Empire. Icheb didn't want the commander to think he was leaning on past research and "sliding by" instead of taking his studies very seriously.

"Seven, would you mind if I left for the mess hall now? I would like to finish my paper for Commander Tuvok. If something comes up and you need me, you can always call me back."

Seven looked up at Icheb and smiled. "Acceptable. All of the work we were assigned today by the captain has been completed. I would not be preparing for a game with Neelix if it were not. He will open the channel in approximately 56.5 seconds. Perhaps you'd like to say hello to him before you leave?"

"Of course," Icheb said. He closed out his terminal and walked over to where Seven was standing, reaching his position just as Neelix's face appeared upon the screen.

"Hello there, my two favorite former Borgs. How are things going for you, Icheb? Seven tells me you're doing very well in your Academy classes with Tuvok."

"Well enough. In fact, I can't stay to chat today. I have a paper to finish."

"Don't let me keep you. More time for my game with Seven, then!"

"Say hello to Brax and Dexa for me," Icheb said, waving to the Talaxian as he took his leave from Astrometrics.

He'd barely entered the mess hall and was just about to choose his entrée - Chell, as he'd threatened, had prepared Plasma Leak Soup and Chicken Warp Core Done Blew, among other punny additions to the night's menu - when Seven hailed Icheb. _:::I'm sorry to disturb your meal, Icheb, but the neutrino emissions detector alert has sounded.:::_

"Affirmative. I'll be right there."

Shrugging his shoulders to Chell and stepping out of the dinner line, Icheb hurried off, back to Astrometrics. He didn't know if he was more excited by the possibility his device had alerted them to a wormhole heading into the Alpha Quadrant, or if it was because the gravimetric sensor array he'd first constructed over a year ago had actually worked as it was designed to do. If it had, his paper might end up being turned into an instructor at Starfleet Academy on Earth, instead of Commander Tuvok!

=/\=

When he rushed through the Astrometrics doorway, Icheb almost skidded to a stop at what he saw on the sensor array screen. "Seven, is this right? Are there really that many wormholes in this sector of space?"

Her smile was dazzling. "I've checked and rechecked the results, Icheb. There's no doubt. There are hundreds of them. Because they're embedded within a nebula, they're not visible visually. Thanks to your invention, we were able to detect them easily."

"Have you notified the captain yet?"

"I have. She's scheduled an emergency meeting. I need to leave to share our findings with the entire senior staff. Under the circumstances, we should make sure Astrometrics in manned at all times for the immediate future. I need you to cover for me here until I return. This will, I fear, delay your evening meal somewhat."

"Don't worry about that! I want to investigate this phenomenon in detail. I can try to count how many wormholes there are, at the very least."

"One other thing you can do is work on mapping where the wormholes are leading. I've already identified several that appear to end in the Alpha Quadrant, but the quadrant itself is very large. We would want to utilize one that ends as close to Earth as possible, if we can. And some may be too small for _Voyager_ to travel through. Recording the dimensions of any possible routes would also be desirable."

"Affirmative. You'd better get to your meeting now."

Seven laughed softly. "I will, Icheb. The sooner I do, the sooner the meeting will be over. And then you'll be able to have that dinner you're so hungry for."

Icheb laughed then, too. The last thing he had on his mind at the moment was his stomach! But then, he had no doubt he'd feel differently if the meeting lasted more than an hour or so.

=/\=


	36. Speculations

=/\=

Naomi Wildman's old observation that gossip sped around _Voyager_ at a dizzying speed because it was such a small ship was never so true as today. Everyone was talking about the wormhole-punctured nebula by the time Icheb was able to reach the mess hall for a well-deserved, but exceedingly late, dinner. Fortunately, Chell had not closed the kitchen at 2030, as he usually did, because so many other diners were extremely late to arrive and/or were so busy talking with their friends, they were taking an inordinately long time to finish their meals. Chell had no problem with this. As Naomi had often confided to Icheb, "Crewman Chell is the biggest gossip on the ship." This news about the wormholes was seemingly made for the chatty chief chef, who was as adept at speculating about which members of the crew would be promoted as soon as _Voyager_ returned to the Alpha Quadrant (this, mainly with the Starfleet contingent), as he was earnestly discussing the fate of the Maquis upon their arrival. Would they face jail time, or might they receive commendations for services to the Federation because of the way they'd contributed to _Voyager's_ safe return? Icheb decided Chell was glad to debate either side of the issue. As long as he could air his opinions in his own inimitable way, he was a very happy Bolian. His skin tone might be blue, but his mood certainly wasn't.

When Icheb walked into the mess hall at 2310, he'd expected he'd need to replicate his meal, but Chell was serving Tom Paris' favorite, good old-fashioned tomato and cheese pizzas, to anyone who wanted a late meal and wished to preserve their replicator rations. The cheese for the pizza was replicated, of course, since the tale of Neelix's disastrous attempt at cheese-making had reached the status of myth on board the ship; but Chell had picked up the basics of producing a very high quality pizza dough very quickly. He was willing to replicate mushrooms and pepperoni to place on the pie, and he always whipped up his own version of Italian sausage, both hot and sweet, for toppings. He also used fresh Talaxian tomatoes, bell pepper, and onions grown hydroponically in Cargo Bay One. "It's all made fresh! Great as a meal or a snack! Have a slice! Have four!" he cheerfully commanded Icheb as he went through the mess hall line.

Icheb ordered six slices, each with a different set of toppings, and managed to consume every piece within twenty minutes. After all, he reasoned, mapping wormhole destinations was hard work. He hadn't stopped to take any sort of meal or snack break the entire time he was in Astrometrics.

He wasn't alone in the mess hall. Several members of the Science Department were in one corner, loudly relishing the possibility they'd be back in the Alpha Quadrant by Christmas. Several engineers and security section people were scattered around the hall, too, earnestly chatting with each other about getting home - when they weren't evaluating technical problems such as hull stresses and energy consumption ratios, factors which might crop up if the chosen wormhole presented any particular barriers to an easy flight through. The likely date of Lieutenant Torres delivery of her child was no longer a major topic of conversation. Icheb thought the mess hall looked as it did during a typical lunch hour, rather than at midnight snack time.

Even though he'd just eaten three-quarters of a large pizza, Icheb needed "a little something extra," as Neelix had always put it. After recycling his tray and dishes, he walked over to the replicator wall and punched up one of his Nutritional Supplement shakes. When Icheb turned around with his drink, he noticed one member of the crew who wasn't chatting with anyone else. Instead, he was slumped into the corner of one of the couches in the lounge area, lost in thoughts that, from the expression on his face, were anything but jubilant.

Carefully, Icheb approached his crewmate. "Mr. Lessing," Icheb said. "Do you mind if I join you?"

Wordlessly, Noah waved him to take the seat next to him on the couch. Icheb sat down and took a few sips of his shake before the silence between the pair was broken.

"I'm surprised you aren't being bombarded by our crewmates, congratulating you on the success of your wormhole-detecting device. A gravimetric sensor, right?" Noah said.

"If any of them saw the way I was inhaling my pizza, they probably wanted to stay as far away from me as they could. I might have bitten them by mistake."

Noah chuckled weakly at Icheb's quip, but he sat up a little straighter in the chair. "That's one of the supplemental shakes the Doctor prescribes for you, right?"

"Yes, although I probably don't really need the supplements for my Borg implants anymore. The Doctor says regular food gives me pretty much all I need at this point. I like some of his concoctions, though. They're nutritious for anyone, not just former Borg. Tom Paris says the one I'm drinking now tastes like root beer to him. It goes really well with pizza." Icheb replied.

"I imagine it would. I like root beer floats for dessert, but I'm not sure if I'd enjoy them with pizza. Root beer is a little sweet with savory foods, as far as I'm concerned.

"B'Elanna Torres has been drinking these shakes a lot since her pregnancy began. Tom told me she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and demands he bring her one."

"When she isn't dragging him off to Sickbay because of false labor pains!" Noah laughed. Icheb privately congratulated himself for being able to cheer up the exobiologist. Those mental pats on his mental back didn't last long, though. Noah sat further up and leant forward, resting his elbows on his thighs, and began to rub his hands together. "I guess you're wondering why I'm sitting over here instead of with my co-workers from Sciences over there," he stated quietly.

Icheb knew exactly why the former ensign of the lost _Equinox_ had chosen this spot in which to sit, but he simply shrugged his shoulders noncommittally and waited for Noah to tell him whatever he felt comfortable enough to share with Icheb. After a pause, Noah went on, "I know the Maquis have an uncertain future, but because of things that happened on my last ship . . . the one that was dragged into the Delta Quadrant around the time _Voyager_ was . . . oh, hell! _Equinox_ was the _ship_ from hell. I know I'm going to suffer the consequences of what our crew did on that vessel. All five of us will. We weren't looking forward to getting back to the Alpha Quadrant this soon, I can tell you that. You probably don't know what I'm talking about, though. This all happened before _Voyager_ encountered your cube. Forget I said anything."

Noah began to stand up, but Icheb reached out and touched the arm of his companion, saying, "No, I do know."

Noah studied Icheb for several seconds before settling back into the couch. "I guess you've had to study the ship's logs as part of your training," Noah remarked resignedly.

"I have, but actually, it was Mezoti who found out first. She hacked into the logs very soon after we came on board. We'd heard whisperings a few times about something happening to the five of you, and Mezoti had to know all the details."

Noah smiled ruefully and shook his head slowly. "Man, I miss that kid. I guess you must miss her even more than I do."

"I do," Icheb sighed.

"Well, if you know what we did, murdering aliens and turning their bodies into fuel so we could get our ship moving faster, then I guess you do understand."

"According to the logs, your Captain Rudy Ransom did tell Captain Janeway you five were 'the best' of your crew and deserved a second chance. Maybe it won't be as bad as you think."

"I'd like to think that, Icheb, but I doubt it. Marla heard from her sister during one of the Project Watson transmissions that there's been talk about _Equinox_. The Ransom and Burke families seem to be pressing for commendations for our late captain and executive officer. If that sort of talk continues, the facts eventually will come out; and then we'll be given prison sentences instead of a hero's welcome. Marla may lose custody of Aimee. I think that bothers me more than whatever they may choose to do to me. Marla needs Aimee, and Aimee needs her Mommy. After what we did, I'd say I deserve to spend time in prison."

Noah stopped then and took several deep breaths, as if he had been physically exerting himself. Maybe, in a way, he had. As far as Icheb knew, the " _Equinox_ Five" never spoke about this to anyone, except, perhaps, each other. Admitting all this to Icheb must have taken a grave toll on the tall, gentle crewman who'd always treated the "Borglets" with kindness and respect. Perhaps sharing a bit of his own history, which hadn't ever become part of the gossip chain as far as Icheb knew, might be appropriate.

"Mr. Lessing, do you know why all the adult drones on the Borg cube we were on died?"

"They encountered some sort of pathogen, I heard."

"Do you know where this pathogen came from?"

"No, I don't think I ever heard anything about the source."

"You're looking at the source," Icheb relayed, more calmly than he felt.

Noah looked skeptically at Icheb, but what he saw on the cadet's face must have convinced him the revelation was neither a joke nor a lie. "You killed thousands of drones?"

"Thanks to an adjustment in my DNA that my birth parents introduced into my genome. Yes, it's true. I didn't know anything about this until after the captain went back to Brunal and rescued me from being assimilated again by the Borg. I'm responsible for those deaths - or, at least, my body is. Seven and Tom Paris have told me my parents were responsible, not me. I had no part in the decision to use my body the way they did, but it's hard for me to ignore all of it. And if I'm assimilated again, I'd undoubtedly destroy all the drones on the vessel that does the deed." Icheb thought about whether to share the biggest part of the secret. He held his breath for a moment, then added, "The truth is, I've been working on refining this neurological pathogen as a weapon against the Borg; so if it's ever used, I'll be responsible for the death of who knows how many aliens whose only crime is that they were assimilated and enslaved. If I could get to the Queen and just kill her, I would. Eradicate the Queen, and maybe the Borg menace would disappear, too; but that opportunity is not likely ever to come up, unfortunately."

"But that's not the same as what we did on _Equinox_ ," Noah said sadly. "If you've read the logs, you know all that we did."

"From what I read, you were forced to cooperate, very much against your will."

"I'm afraid a defense of 'I was only following orders' never works out in a court martial."

Icheb had to admit this was true from his studies, but he didn't want to agree with Noah. It wasn't right that the commanding officers of _Equinox_ would never be prosecuted because they were dead, while five of the crew they coerced to act in terrible ways would face punishment. There was one thing he could say, however, that was equally true: "Don't be so sure we're going to get to the Alpha Quadrant so easily. We're still trying to work out how so many wormholes could be located in such a relatively small area of space. It seems awfully convenient that the area is hidden so completely by that nebula surrounding it, too. We may find it's not the route to Earth we'd like it to be."

"I guess that old adage about taking things one step and one day at a time still holds true. Whatever happens, I'm glad I had this talk with you, Icheb. It's a painful subject for me. My conscience gets to me whenever I think about it."

"If I could terminate the Queen, after all she's done, I would. And I have to admit my conscience wouldn't bother me at all. At least, I hope it wouldn't."

"That's the problem. Until something like this happens, you don't know what your conscience will do to you." Noah stood up and held out his had to Icheb's to shake it. "I'm on Alpha shift tomorrow. I guess I better hit my bunk and try to get some rest. Good night, Icheb."

After Noah Lessing left, Icheb sat on the couch in the lounge area for quite a while, reviewing what he knew about everything they'd discussed. His cautionary statement to Noah about the wormholes not necessarily being their route home was certainly true, but what if they could use them? What if they arrived in the Alpha Quadrant in only a few days or weeks? The new life there that he'd imagined for himself, which he'd always assumed would take many years to be accomplished, might be possible while he was still an adolescent. While Icheb was sure he'd still want to be a Starfleet officer, he would at least have the option of following another path if he ever did change his mind. He might choose to study to be a physician. Becoming a full-time genetics researcher wasn't out of the question, either.

His personal life choices could be very different as well. If _Voyager's_ journey continued for twenty or thirty years, his choices of mate would be extremely limited. Even now, only a few couples on board were beginning to edge towards forming a family,the way Tom and B'Elanna had. And the only person even close to his age on this ship was Naomi!

He had to chuckle to himself over the image of Naomi standing next to him in front of Captain Janeway as they took their vows, but then he stopped to consider the ramifications. Naomi was only five years old, but she looked closer to twelve. At the rate she was going, she might be fully grown within five or six years. Naomi and Icheb were great friends now, but would they ever desire each other in the future? If they did marry in a future lived on _Voyager_ , would they feel they'd settled for the only person in their age group, rather than having a true choice of spouse? In the Alpha Quadrant, none of that would be a problem. They'd both have plenty of potential mates. If they ever did become more than friends, it would be because they wanted to, not because they only had each other.

Seven and Chakotay - was that what was really happening with them? Settling for one of the few individuals on the ship who attracted them enough to even consider as mates? Icheb had heard from enough of the crew who had been on board _Voyager_ from the beginning of the Starfleet/Maquis alliance who believed the captain and the commander had loved each other from very early on in the journey. They'd spent months together on a planet they'd called New Earth when a strange virus from a bug bite had afflicted them. The resulting illness would have killed them if they'd remained on the ship, but conditions on the planet controlled their symptoms. A Vidiian doctor who had once been treated for a fatal illness on _Voyager_ , who had become the EMH's friend, provided a serum which cured the command team, enabling them to return to the ship. Any attempt to find out exactly how close Kathryn Janeway and Chakotay had come to each other when they weren't the captain and her first officer was adroitly deflected by the pair.

Most of the crew suspected they'd become lovers on New Earth and were convinced the only reason they weren't together now was attributable to Starfleet protocols prohibiting an officer from "fraternizing" with anyone under his or her direct chain of command. For the captain, that meant everyone (other than Michael Sullivan, the holodeck character who was the proprietor of Fair Haven's pub - or so it was rumored). Actually, that meant the commander, too, since, as second in command, everyone was also under his direct supervision. Since Seven had never enlisted in Starfleet, and technically she was only a "passenger" and "consultant," the rules apparently did not apply to her. Actually, they probably did apply, but if Seven wanted something, she never let a little thing like published regulations stop her from pursuing her goal.

Was that the real attraction she had for Chakotay? That he didn't have to follow the protocols as far as she was concerned? If that was true, Icheb felt even more uneasy about their recent attachment to each other than he did about how it might affect his own relationship with Seven.

If Mezoti _had_ still been here, they could have talked all of this over, verbally and subvocally. No, he corrected himself, he would have been forced to speak to her aloud now, but that wouldn't have mattered. She'd have made sure he knew her opinions on everything. They'd been so close. Mezoti had been everything he'd wanted in a sibling. He'd known that even before she left. He wished he could speak with her again now, to share all they'd learned, and to hear her speculating about what this discovery meant to everyone. But she wasn't here, and Icheb didn't know when, or if, he'd ever get the chance to speak with her again. While a lot of scary incidents had occurred on _Voyager_ since she chose to live with the Wysanti, if she had known the journey would only take another year - and not even that long - would she have been more willing to take her chances traveling with Seven and Icheb, instead of choosing the safer path of living planetside? Maybe she _wouldn't_ have left. Maybe he wouldn't have lost her.

He felt an ache in his heart, not in his head, even though this was, in a way, a temporal matter. He wished he could travel back in time and let her know how soon their journey might end. Maybe he could convince her to stay on _Voyager,_ with all of those who missed her, even those like Noah Lessing, who had been one of her teachers and, Icheb was certain, her friend.

Losing Mezoti was something he was convinced he'd never get over.

=/\=


	37. An Unexpected Arrival

=/\=

Everyone on _Voyager_ was abuzz with anticipation as the ship approached the "Wormhole Nebula," as Tom Paris had duly christened it, to unanimous approbation. Icheb had secretly hoped Seven would be standing at the station she usually used when she was on the bridge, but today, she decided to remain in Astrometrics and had pointedly refused his suggestions that she needed a backup today. Fortunately, the Ensigns Delaney had invited Icheb to come and stand with them, along with virtually the entire Sciences Division, as _Voyager_ entered the swirling gasses. Every screen in Stellar Cartography was tuned to views of the bridge as recorded by the official log imaging system. Icheb had no doubt that everyone else had a way of watching, as well. Ensign Wildman had even consented for Naomi to stand with them, holding baby Aimee, since Marla Gilmore had to man her station in Engineering.

Thus just about everyone on _Voyager_ was privy to the near collision with the Borg cube, and to the way Lieutenant Paris suddenly ducked down as the vessel swooped all too close overhead. The sound of everyone in the room sucking in their breath, waiting to see if the cube would come back to assimilate them, swirled around Icheb. His discussion with Noah Lessing about the fate of any drones who made the mistake of assimilating Icheb, which had taken place only days before, came back to haunt him, until it was clear the cube had failed to change course and, instead, was proceeding on its established heading.

Icheb excused himself and ran to find Seven staring at the main screen of Astrometrics. She barely glanced up as he entered, but when he whispered to her, "Is it Borg matrix of some type?" she turned to face him.

"I'm not sure. It could be. Help me evaluate the data, Icheb. I'm sure the captain will need it very soon."

They worked in silence for several minutes before Icheb reported, "I count at least forty vessels."

"Forty-seven, to be exact," Seven replied.

 _:::Seven of Nine, report to the conference room for an urgent staff meeting,:::_ the captain's voice summoned.

Tapping her combadge, she responded, "I will comply." Turning to Icheb, she commanded, "Continue monitoring all activity in the nebula. If you notice a deviation in the flightpath of any of the vessels, contact us in the conference room immediately."

"I will comply," Icheb responded. A chill ran up his back as he realized he was speaking as a drone, not an Starfleet Academy cadet. He hoped he could remain the latter, and not have some reckless Borg drone try to assimilate him back into the Collective. Such an action would not be conducive to a long life for either of them.

=/\=

For the next couple of days, life on board _Voyager_ continued much as it had for the prior seven years. Astrometrics was manned at all times, of course, since neither the captain nor Seven was ready to assume the Borg had not noticed them in the nebula, even though none of the vessels detected there had shown up on long range sensors. It was possible, if unlikely, that the Borg, for some unknown reason, could be tracking _Voyager_ in a manner that was undetectable to Federation sensors. Continued vigilance was therefore mandatory.

When Icheb visited the Paris-Torres quarters the evening after the near-miss, Tom regaled him with a story about how Harry Kim had tried to entice Tom into taking the _Delta Flyer_ for a spin back into the nebula in a last-ditch effort to find a way home. "He put it to me as 'one last adventure' for Captain Proton and Buster Kincaid to indulge in before I was too busy with fatherhood. I told Harry I already was home," Tom laughed. "When he insisted Captain Proton would never walk away from that kind of mission, I reminded him that Captain Proton didn't have a wife, with a baby on the way!"

Icheb thought it was a funny story. He noticed B'Elanna wasn't laughing, though.

=/\=

Icheb was surprised when he glimpsed Seven holding a floral bouquet as she called for an internal transport to the first officer's quarters. She realized he'd entered Borg Central just as the transport was beginning to take hold. Seven put her forefinger to her lips, the universal sign to keep quiet, as she flickered away.

Icheb sighed as he walked towards the computer console. So their relationship was progressing. With _Voyager's_ journey to the Alpha Quadrant again expected to last for decades, he couldn't really blame Seven for wanting to explore the emotions that had been denied her while the emotional inhibiter chip was still part of her being, but Icheb would have preferred another potential adoptive dad. Commander Chakotay was a very good officer and a great role model, but somehow, he didn't seem right for Seven. She must be able to see qualities in him that Icheb couldn't. He should learn to accept the situation, because he had a feeling it was going to happen now, whether he liked it or not.

When Megan Delaney contacted him, Icheb had just opened the program holding the paper he was supposed to hand in to Commander Tuvok the previous week. Because of all the momentous events which had necessitated Icheb's functioning more as an officer in Sciences than a cadet, Commander Tuvok had deferred the assignment. Megan's shift was ending, but her scheduled relief was her sister. Jenny had ended up in Sickbay with a holodeck injury. Could Cadet Icheb relieve Ensign Delaney so that she could go to Sickbay to make sure her twin was all right? With a deep sigh, Cadet Icheb agreed and shut down his console. He needed to remember to let Commander Tuvok know what happened, so he would understand the possibility that his paper would not be handed in yet again - because Duty had Called. Again.

=/\=

Megan had just walked out of the door when the order came from the bridge. Some sort of spatial rift was opening in front of _Voyager_. Commander Tuvok wanted Ensign Delaney to evaluate its properties and report her findings as quickly as possible. When Icheb responded affirmatively, while also letting the commander know he'd been called to Astrometrics by Ensign Delaney, he knew that was one thing he could check off his "to do" list. At least Commander Tuvok now knew Icheb was too busy at the moment to be composing a paper for him.

Only seconds later, Icheb reported, "From the tachyon emissions coming from the rift, I believe it is temporal in nature, Commander."

 _:::Thank you, Cadet,:::_ Tuvok answered. _:::Continue evaluating the situation. Report any new details to me.:::_

A minute later, Icheb contacted _Voyager's_ tactical officer again. "Commander, I'm detecting evidence of weapons fire in the form of nadion discharges." He paused as he considered how unlikely the rest of his readings were, but the commander had asked him to report all his findings. This might be a very significant one. "I may be mistaken about this, Commander, but the weapons fire appears to have a Klingon signature."

Tuvok had not broken their communications link, so Icheb could hear him tell the bridge officers about the nadion discharges coming from the other side of the rift, along with Icheb's conclusion that they were consistent with Klingon weaponry.

While continuing his observations of the rift, Icheb turned on a console screen to enable him to monitor what was happening on the bridge even after Tuvok closed off their communications link. He heard Harry report they were being hailed. He heard a familiar voice and saw a face he recognized on the viewscreen, even though it was changed markedly from the one he knew. Shocked, he almost forgot to check the main Astrometrics screen to see the shadowy outlines of two Klingon vessels following the small vessel, one which held a person who looked and sounded exactly like his Captain Janeway - albeit a considerably older version.

Before Icheb had a chance to report this new discovery, Commander Tuvok proved he'd noticed those in pursuit. _:::Captain, a Klingon vessel is coming through.:::_

The Janeway on the viewscreen ordered his captain to fire an anti-tachyon pulse at the rift to close it. _:::In case you didn't notice, I outrank you, Captain. NOW DO IT!:::_

Icheb couldn't even imagine what Captain Janeway was feeling, but she followed the orders of the woman on the screen. She identified herself as Admiral Janeway. Icheb's head began to spin. Was this another temporal anomaly? Would he actually meet this Captain Braxton of the Federation Temporal Police that Tom had told him about? What was happening?

When Admiral Janeway responded to a query Captain Janeway posed to her, Icheb's last question was answered, at least in part. To the captain's acid, ". . . what the hell is going on?" the Admiral had simply replied, _:::I've come to bring Voyager home.:::_

=/\=


	38. System Upgrades

=/\=

If the days following the discovery of the Wormhole Nebula had been filled with anticipation, along with more than a little dread on the parts of some of the crew, the appearance of a Kathryn Janeway who claimed to be from some twenty-six years in the future created a sensation. When the woman arrived on board, everyone who saw her in the flesh remarked that she looked "just like the captain." _If this Admiral Janeway is telling the truth,_ Icheb thought, _of course she would look just like the captain - just older._

For the first day she was on _Voyager_ , Icheb saw her only from a distance. Despite being a couple of decades older than their captain, Icheb thought her quite beautiful. Her hair was silky, a pure white; her face was still beautiful, with only a bare minimum of wrinkles. While her figure was slightly thickened at the waist, as Icheb had learned was common with older humans, she carried herself firmly erect, like a much younger person. In fact, Icheb thought her posture tended to be a little too stiff, as if the years had turned her bones to steel, whether from disappointment or from the need to be vigilant always, never daring to relax for a moment, lest she risk attack from some unknown quarter.

Although he knew he wasn't supposed to spy on anything in Sickbay, Icheb suspected the Doctor would, at some point, need to verify her identity, undoubtedly through a DNA comparison. While Icheb's assistance wouldn't be needed for such a simple procedure, he invented a fictitious experiment and positioned himself in the adjacent lab soon after she arrived, "just in case." Icheb was rewarded when he heard that familiar voice echoing from Sickbay. It was even huskier than the captain's, but through his enhanced hearing, he determined its timbre was exactly the same as hers. When the second, slightly less husky voice also appeared, Icheb took a chance and leaned just outside his doorway. Once he heard the Doctor confirm the admiral was, in fact, the same person as the captain, but approximately twenty-six years older, Icheb stepped away from the lab and into the corridor. If they really were getting home in a matter of days, perhaps he didn't need to worry about the Doctor catching him eavesdropping; but after all of the mishaps Icheb had already experienced during his time on _Voyager_ , Icheb wasn't going to risk losing his lab privileges now. Better to be safe than sorry!

When he arrived at the mess hall, Icheb found it awash with rumors, but no one knew anything for certain until the entire engineering staff was called back to begin work on a special project. The admiral's ship from the future had three advanced systems. While one, a type of stealth shielding, wasn't compatible with _Voyager's_ current level of technology, two of them were. Most of the engineers were assigned the installation of ablative armor over _Voyager's_ entire surface. The rest, with Icheb and several non-biology specialists from Sciences tabbed to assist them, were to build a number of extremely powerful new weapons, which the admiral called transphasic torpedoes. All of these technologies had been developed through Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who identified herself as the "author of the book on how to defeat the Borg."

And the word was also: _Voyager_ would return to the Wormhole Nebula. They were going to try to get home that way after all.

=/\=

The hugely pregnant Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres was giving her team a pep talk, praising them for completing a full complement of the new torpedoes. Icheb and Freddie Bristow had been singled out for their outstanding work, but now they would be assigned to reinforcing _Voyager's_ energy systems. Just as the chief engineer finished her lecture, Icheb's combadge was activated. Stepping back and away from the rest of the group, Icheb answered the EMH's hail.

 _:::Icheb, please come to Sickbay. Seven requires your presence.:::_

"Is she sick, Doctor?" Icheb asked, perturbed. "It's not her cortical node again, is it?"

 _:::No, but her regeneration cubicle malfunctioned briefly. She's going to be fine, but she'd like to speak with you.:::_

"Tell her I'll be right there."

=/\=

Icheb became extremely upset when Seven disclosed the Borg Queen had contacted her. She not only knew about their renewed plans to return home, she'd also caused the EM surge which had injured Seven. Once he was assured she was really all right, he told Seven he was going back to work in Engineering, unless he was needed in Astrometrics. The Doctor had informed Icheb he was keeping Seven in Sickbay for another hour or so before allowing her to return to duty. Icheb knew Seven was unsettled by the entire incident when she allowed him to kiss her gently on the cheek as he said good-bye.

As Icheb was leaving, the Doctor took him aside and inquired, "Have you had any 'Borg Queen dreams' yourself lately?"

"Doctor, I don't have a cortical node anymore. You inserted it into Seven. The Queen has no way of contacting me that way."

After a noncommittal "hmm," the Doctor asked, "How much time do you currently spend in your regeneration cubicle?"

"A couple of hours a week. You said you weren't sure I even needed to be in it for that long during my last check up."

"Ah, so I did. When was the last time you used it?"

"Well, I like to sleep standing up in an alcove, but the last time I had any current going through me was two nights ago."

"Just to be on the safe side, Icheb, I'd sleep somewhere else, perhaps even in a bed - just in case the Queen has a way of getting to you through your remaining Borg implant system."

Icheb nodded his agreement as he stepped out of Sickbay. So the Borg Queen knew what they planned, and she didn't want them going into that nebula. To discourage this, she might try to hurt Icheb, even though it would be a lot harder for her to do it to him than it had been to injure Seven. This wasn't good. Not at all. It was looking more and more like the plethora of wormholes inside that nebula was not a natural phenomenon. If it was what Icheb feared it was, he doubted the road home to the Alpha Quadrant would pass through there, no matter what Admiral Janeway insisted.

=/\=

Despite the Borg Queen's warning, the ship plowed on towards the Wormhole Nebula. This time, at _Voyager's_ approach, a Borg cube confronted them. Admiral Janeway's futuristic weapons were as effective as she'd touted, and when the Borg fired on _Voyager_ , the transphasic torpedoes fired in response caused the cube to explode in a spectacular, and one might even say, unprecedented manner. When another cube faced off against _Voyager_ , it, too, was blown to smithereens. Despite this evidence of the new torpedoes' effectiveness, more Borg cubes began to fire on the Starfleet ship. While the new ablative armor contained the damage, _Voyager's_ shields began to weaken. _The ship can't take much more_ , Icheb thought, as he watched the action from his preferred monitoring position in Astrometrics. They'd either have to flee again or try to force their way through a virtually impenetrable Borg blockade.

And then _Voyager_ burst through the thickest clouds of nebular gasses to see a glowing ball of energy, punctured with myriad openings. Icheb immediately recognized these apertures as wormhole entrances and exits. From the Borg memories he still retained, he knew what this was. It wasn't a Borg matrix, or even a part of the Collective's Trans-Warp system. It was one of six Trans-Warp Hubs, all that existed in the entire galaxy, which permitted the Borg to travel from point to point at velocities which made all other faster-than-light technologies irrelevant. Moving at maximum speed, _Voyager_ , would appear to be standing completely still, like an insect entombed within a piece of amber.

It was, quite simply, the secret of the Borg's success. No wonder the Queen didn't want them anywhere near it.

=/\=

The captain and the admiral gave conflicting orders to Lieutenant Paris. Unsurprisingly, the helmsman obeyed his captain, not the admiral. _Voyager_ flew away from the hub at maximum warp. While Icheb could observe this much on his monitor, he wasn't privy to the rest of the argument, which took place in the conference room only minutes after _Voyager_ fled from any further confrontations with Borg cubes. Fortunately, the Collective seemed to be content to let _Voyager_ go, as long as it was heading away from their precious Trans-Warp Hub.

Although Icheb would have to wait for Seven or one of the other senior staff members to give him the particulars, it wasn't hard for him to imagine that the admiral was still insisting they use the Trans-Warp Hub to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, despite the danger to the ship from the Borg. Clearly, if the admiral had used the hub herself to get home, she wouldn't have needed to come to the here and now to convince the captain to use it. She must have passed on the opportunity, too, but what did that mean for the crew? While it was obvious that Kathryn Janeway had returned home safely, no one had heard how many others made it back with her. It stood to reason that not everyone residing now on _Voyager_ would have survived. From his explorations of Federation literature, Icheb was very familiar with the Greek poet Homer's _The Iliad_ and _The Odyssey._ It took twenty long years for Odysseus to return home to his family, and when he finally did, he was alone. Everyone who had gone along with him to battle the Trojans had perished on their way back.

Icheb wasn't happy to make that association, and he quickly became aware that he wasn't the only one on board who had been exposed to the benefits of classic Terran literature. When he went to the mess hall to grab a quick bite before returning to duty in Astrometrics, shortly after they'd turned away from the Trans-Warp Hub, quite a few of the crew were mentioning "Homer" and "Odyssey" in hushed conversations.

Since the admiral hadn't been forthcoming about details such as which of them were living when the admiral left her time, it wasn't surprising the members of the crew were becoming markedly jittery about their futures. When Seven stopped by Astrometrics to confirm the meeting in the conference room had ended with toasts "to the journey," along with a unanimous decision by the senior staff to continue on _Voyager's_ previous course rather than turning back to the hub (as the admiral still wished), Icheb didn't know whether to be happy or apprehensive. He hadn't been able to learn anything about his own fate, or Seven's, in the admiral's timeline. He thanked Seven for the information, however, and thought the matter had finally been laid to rest.

He was wrong, of course. He hadn't counted on the persuasive powers of Kathryn Janeway, and the admiral had lots more practice at being her.

=/\=


	39. Status Reports

=/\=

In response to a summons from Captain Janeway, Icheb stepped into her Ready Room to find both Kathryn Janeways standing before him. From this close, Icheb could see the tiny lines around the admiral's eyes, revealing her age more clearly than he'd been able to detect when he'd only viewed her from a distance. She smiled as soon as she saw him, which made him feel as comfortable as he usually did whenever he spoke with Kathryn Janeway.

That is, not particularly.

"Icheb! It's so good to see you!" the admiral exclaimed heartily. "How are you doing? Is everything going well with you on _Voyager?_ "

"Very well, ma'am. Sir. Admiral?" The captain preferred to be called by her rank in lieu of the many other forms of address considered appropriate for a commanding officer of the female gender. Was that still the case? Icheb immediately thought he'd bungled this meeting, and it had barely begun.

The admiral chuckled lightly, however. "Admiral will do. Tell me, have you begun studying with Tuvok yet? It's been a long time. I'm a little unsure of exactly where you are in this timeline."

"Yes, m . . . Admiral. I passed the Starfleet Academy Entrance Examination several months ago. Commander Tuvok has been tutoring me ever since." He wondered if he should mention his very tardy paper, but he decided against it.

"Good, good. And you're pursuing some independent study projects as well, aren't you?" This question was asked with a quiet intensity, suggesting she knew of his genetic manipulation investigations. Of course. If the timelines had diverged when she arrived in the Delta Quadrant, everything Icheb had experienced and done on _Voyager_ up to then was the same for both Kathryn Janeways. Icheb glanced towards his captain. Other than a brief nod when he entered her Ready Room, she'd barely moved and hadn't uttered a single word since he did. She knew about the project of course, although he'd only spoken directly to her about it during its initial phase. He'd reported his findings to Seven, the Doctor, and Commander Tuvok ever since.

"Yes, Admiral. From your question, I take it you know the main objective of my studies."

"Yes, I know exactly what it is. What I don't recall is how much progress you've made to this point." Those eyes were boring into him now. It certainly wasn't a "Janeway glare," as the crew referred to it, since that was as good as a slap on the face. It was as if she wanted to peer into his mind and tease out every detail of his discoveries to date.

Icheb sighed deeply. "If you are inquiring if the weapon is ready, it is."

The captain looked quizzically at him and asked, "Are you calling yourself a weapon now?"

"No, Captain. You know that anyone can be a weapon if the serum I've developed is injected into their body and that person is later assimilated. However, I've been . . . tinkering with the genetics for a while now. In the latest version, the change will happen very rapidly. In minutes, even, rather than in days or weeks. Any drone in the same Borg vessel will begin to deteriorate almost as quickly as the one who injected the nanoprobes does."

"Good. Very good," the admiral mused, a satisfied look upon her face. The captain looked shocked. Obviously, neither Seven, the Doctor, nor Commander Tuvok had gotten around to telling the captain about his latest formulation of the serum. While he hadn't expected Seven or the Doctor to tell her, as Commander Tuvok had insisted it was his responsibility, Icheb was surprised that the ship's weapons expert had not yet done so. He'd know about this for weeks. It wasn't possible Commander Tuvok had forgotten to inform her, was it?

The captain broke this chain of thought when she inquired, "Icheb, I know you were also investigating whether or not your serum would affect other ships in the Collective. Do you have an answer to that question?"

"Perhaps," Icheb grudgingly admitted, "but I have no way to know without a test, and for that, we would need to be in a position for one Borg vessel to be close enough to another for the infection to spread. Although there may be many Borg vessels in and around the Trans-Warp Hub, I don't think that's the best place to go to perform testing protocols!"

"I agree!" the captain laughed grimly, and even the admiral chuckled, although that's exactly where she wanted _Voyager_ to go.

Icheb was emboldened to explain further. "The neurolytic pathogen affects the Borg nervous system along the neural interlink frequency, which communicates the orders of the Queen throughout the Collective via the Viniculum in each ship. The pathogen creates a very subtle, initially undetectable vibration in the frequency. As the rate of vibration increases, it eventually becomes obvious, but by that time, it's too late stop its progression. The frequency reaches a level of distortion that creates chaos in the organism and, after a time, destroys the vessel itself. Since the neural interlink frequency connects all of the Borg, in theory, it would result in chaos throughout the Hive. It's difficult to tell, as I said, without testing. The only way the vibration's progress could be halted would be if the Queen destroyed every infected vessel - and she'd have to know it was happening at all before it affected her, too. We know she's capable of ruthlessly eradicating her own vessels and thousands of drones with little cause. She destroyed huge cubes and every drone on them when she was trying to stop a handful of Unimatrix Zero drones from breaking away from her control."

The captain pursed her lips and nodded slightly, acknowledging the truth of his observation, and then asked, "Do you think that's what happened to your Children's Collective Cube? That the Queen ordered all of the affected drones to destroy themselves?"

"I don't think so, Captain. It would have been much easier for her to explode the cube, and then you'd never have been able to rescue us. I think the pathogen my body creates caused the drones on our cube to lose the ability to communicate, and the vibration interfered with their functioning to such an extent that they died, or perhaps terminated themselves out of confusion. That would explain why our cube remained intact. By the time the Queen recognized she'd lost her connection to our drones and that she had to stop any Borg vessel from coming to investigate and catching the infection, it was too late for her to order our cube's destruction. She had to send a message ordering us to terminate themselves, a message we were unable to decrypt. However, if the vibration continued to progress more gradually, affecting the cube's mechanical systems, that could have caused it to explode once it reached a certain point of deterioration."

The admiral shook her head. "That does explain what happened. You have an excellent mind, Cadet. I don't think I'm breaking any of the Federation Temporal Police's rules by suggesting you will become a fine Starfleet officer eventually."

Icheb grinned with pleasure. "Really? What is my rank in your time, Admiral Janeway?"

The admiral's face suddenly turned to a stony mask. The blue eyes staring at Icheb became cold, yet Icheb didn't feel a rush of anger emanating from her. Her brows had pinched together, causing deep furrows to appear, and her lips were clasped grimly together, as if she were struggling to hold back words she would regret.

And suddenly, it was as if his ability to communicate subvocally was restored, not with other Borg like Seven or Mezoti, but with Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Icheb wasn't alive in her time. He didn't know how he knew this, and didn't know why he was also certain he'd never had the pleasure of reaching the Alpha Quadrant.

"Let me rephrase that, Admiral. What was my rank as of the day I died?"

The stony look disappeared in a flush of red. "The Temporal Police _would_ get after me if I told you that, Cadet!" she said, apparently not realizing she'd confirmed Icheb's supposition by the way she'd phrased her response. Her demeanor quickly softened, and she added, "There's no point in me saying any more about it anyway, Icheb. That time stream was extinguished as soon as I exited the temporal rift and came aboard, since none of this happened when I was the captain of _Voyager_. It's all been changed. There's no point in telling any of this crew what happened to those who served with me."

Stung, Icheb contritely apologized, "I'm sorry if I was insubordinate, Admiral. I didn't mean to offend you."

Both versions of Kathryn Janeway chuckled at this comment. The admiral was the one who answered him. "Curiosity is not the same thing as insubordination, Cadet, at least, not most of the time. And you didn't offend me." She sighed deeply. "You just reminded me - as if I really needed it - of all those we lost during the additional years my _Voyager_ traveled through the Delta Quadrant. That's why I came: to prevent those losses from occurring."

Icheb breathed more easily with their quick change of mood. He sensed the interview was coming to an end, and he had something else to say before it did. "Admiral, Captain, one more thing . . . I haven't administered the improved serum to myself yet, but just say the word and I will. If a 'sacrificial lamb' is needed to attack the Borg so we can use the Trans-Warp Hub, I offer myself." He stopped and swallowed deeply before adding, "That's why I was born, you understand. "

The captain gently replied, "Thank you, Cadet. Your offer is noted. I trust we won't need to take you up on it."

The admiral had turned away from Icheb as the captain was speaking. Thanks to his enhanced sense of hearing, he could hear her whisper, as if to herself, "I have another 'sacrificial lamb' in mind."

He saw the captain glance sharply at her older counterpart, at the same time she told Icheb, "Dismissed."

As he turned to leave the Ready Room, the admiral casually added, "I haven't had a chance to visit 'Borg Central' yet on this trip, Captain. You don't mind if I follow our young friend on his way home, do you?"

The captain cleared her throat, as if something was stuck in it, but when she spoke, her voice sounded the way it always did. "Of course, Admiral. Don't take too long, though. We'll need your expertise if we're to accomplish our mission."

The Admiral nodded agreement and, following closely on Icheb's heels, stepped out of the Ready Room door.

=/\=

The admiral smiled at him while they descended in the turbolift, but she didn't address him again until they reached their deck and began the short walk to Cargo Bay Two. At that, it was only to murmur a soft, "Borg Central," in tones Icheb associated with someone longing for an unattainable objective. The doors to the bay slid open. The admiral entered and circuited the space at a slow pace, her fingers lightly stroking the surfaces of storage containers Neelix had left behind him when he moved to the Talaxian colony. She caressed the console Seven and Icheb used whenever they worked in their quarters. Eventually, she ascended the platform to the regeneration alcoves, two of which glowed with the acid green, flickering light of Borg technology. The admiral stood in front of both for quite a while, for a much longer time than Icheb had anticipated. She seemed as intent at studying the cubicle Seven had always used as she did his.

When the admiral finally descended the steps and headed towards the door, Icheb was at a loss at what to say to her. He didn't dare ask her again about his rank at the time of his death, but at that point he really didn't need to. As before, without knowing exactly how, he knew he hadn't lived for very long. He might not have even reached adulthood. As she approached the door, however, she turned back to him and said, "In my timeline, Naomi named her first son after you."

So perhaps he _had_ lived long enough to develop some sort of relationship with Naomi. He decided not to ask the admiral if they'd ever become lovers, or if they'd just continued to be very close friends. Even if Naomi and Icheb had enjoyed a romantic relationship, the admiral might not have known how physical it had actually been. As she'd already quite firmly informed him, that time stream had been obliterated. Perhaps in this new one Naomi would name her first son after someone else.

The admiral was still examining him closely, and here he was, standing in front of her, saying nothing at all. That wouldn't do. "Admiral, is there anything more I can do for you?" He offered, "Would you like me to accompany you to another location?"

She shook her head. "No, Ensign. I was simply remembering what a fine officer you turned out to be."

Had that just slipped out, or had she answered his earlier question in a way which shouldn't upset anyone monitoring temporal matters on _Voyager_ at this moment in time? In fact, why was this moment in time occurring at all? Shouldn't the Federation Temporal Police have already swooped in to return the timeline to its original state? Yet here was a Kathryn Janeway from the future, apparently altering the past, without any visible attempts to stop her. What was going on here, anyway? Was this something that was meant to happen?

The admiral began to smile, in that crooked way the captain sometimes did. Before she left, he would risk one more query, or, perhaps, he would be better off simply stating it as a fact. "So, I guess I managed to graduate from the Academy."

Her smile broadened into a grin. "Yes, a very fine officer," was all she said, but her head bobbed slightly, in what Icheb took to be affirmation.

And then she slipped away.

=/\=


	40. Final Preparations

=/\=

He went right to the lab after the admiral disappeared down the corridor. After reviewing all of his data and testing a tiny sample of the serum for quality, Icheb prepared enough of the substance to fill three hyposprays. It was likely only one would be required, but having a couple of spares was advisable, just in case more than one attack on the Collective was necessary. From the way the captain had addressed him after he offered to deliver the serum to the Collective, he didn't believe he'd be the first choice for the task, but he would insist on being the "first back up" if one was needed.

He suspected the "other sacrificial lamb" which the admiral had in mind was Admiral Kathryn Janeway herself. She hadn't come back in time to waste the chance to save the counterparts of her own crew. Harry had confided to Icheb that the device she'd used to travel back in time had burnt itself out getting her here. She had no way to go back to where she'd come from, to a timeline that probably was no longer in existence.

Since Neelix was no longer on _Voyager_ , he didn't know who else might volunteer for the third hypo. In other circumstances, Tom Paris might have; he was infamous for stepping forward and taking risks to protect everyone on _Voyager;_ but circumstances precluded it this time. Tom was about to become a father, and his B'Elanna and new little daughter would need him here, to protect them to the end, if need be.

He had a suspicion that if a second back-up was necessary, his own Captain Janeway might fill the role. She'd volunteered for other missions that seemed to have little or no chance of success. Icheb knew this firsthand, since he'd been on board when she'd allowed herself to be assimilated in the matter of Unimatrix Zero. He was well aware she'd wanted to invade the cube all by herself. The senior staff had insisted she accept companions. That was the only reason B'Elanna and Commander Tuvok had joined her team, which had turned out to be a very good thing. The mission probably would have failed if B'Elanna hadn't been there. _Voyager_ and its people would already have been assimilated.

He didn't want to think about this anymore. Icheb didn't know if it was the time travel aspect, or if it was due to the fact this was a suicide mission for the one would try to penetrate the Borg's defenses, but he had a pounding headache. Before he took to the bunk he'd been temporarily assigned in Freddie Bristow's quarters, for a much-needed nap, he had one more task to complete.

=/\=

"Enter."

Icheb stepped into the Ready Room. Captain Janeway was alone. She looked up from her computer screen and said, "Yes, Cadet? What is it you wanted?"

"Nothing Captain." He walked over to her and gently laid down the three hyposprays on the surface of her desk. "Two spares. Just in case they're needed. The first spare is for me."

Captain Janeway nodded ever so slightly as she examined the items in front of her, her face a blank mask, but when she gazed up at him, her eyes glistened with tears. "Thank you, Icheb," she whispered softly.

He bowed and left the room before she had the chance to say, "Dismissed." He thought they'd both have trouble saying anything more - and he'd have been right.

=/\=

There weren't quite as many of the crew lining the corridors as there were when Neelix walked to the shuttle bay for the last time, but the honor guard which lined the path Admiral Janeway traveled to get to her very advanced, specially equipped shuttle from the future was impressive enough. Icheb made sure he was there in time. He took a place between Marla Gilmore, who was holding little Aimee, and Naomi Wildman. When the admiral passed by Icheb, a smile flickered on her lips briefly as she made eye contact with him.

She stepped through the shuttle bay doors, and in less than five minutes, she was gone.

Icheb walked Naomi to her quarters after they dropped off Marla and Aimee at theirs. Before she went through her door, Naomi asked, "What's going to happen now, Icheb?"

"First, we wait until the captain gives the order to move towards the hub again. All hell will break loose. And then we'll either be in the Alpha Quadrant, or we'll be assimilated or dead."

"Charming prospects, aren't they?" Naomi's wry expression was appropriate for an almost-teenager, but not for a five-year-old. She really was growing up fast.

"The first result is, don't you think? You'll finally meet your dad in person."

She sighed. "Yes, that would be good, but I'll lose my _Voyager_ home. It's the only one I've ever known."

Icheb tilted his head. "I can't deny that. It will be painful for all of us, but don't you think we'll 'learn to adapt?'"

At this quote, so favored by Mezoti when she'd been part of the _Voyager_ family, Naomi bit her lip, but couldn't suppress her smile. "You're right, Icheb. I just hope we get the chance." She put out her arms, and he bent down to give her a big, comforting hug before she turned away and stepped into the quarters she shared with her mother.

As he walked towards the turbolift to head down to Engineering, which would be his post for the duration, Icheb remembered the girl who was terribly frightened of assimilation but still insisted on knowing if it was painful. Had that really happened just a year ago? Yes, not even a year had passed since then. She'd grown so much in that short time. He had, too. When Mezoti briefly came to mind, he refused to dwell on her. Now was not the time to regret her leaving _Voyager_. Only days ago, he'd lamented her loss. Now he was glad she would be spared this test of wills.

Two Kathryn Janeways versus the mighty Collective and its devious Queen.

It might even be a fair fight.

=/\=


	41. Duty Station

=/\=

When he reached Engineering, a very important personage was nowhere to be found. "Where's Lieutenant Torres?" Icheb asked Freddie.

"Haven't you heard? She's in Sickbay, having her baby."

"What? Now? Then who's at the helm?"

"Tom Paris is, of course." Freddie tittered nervously. "I see you have your priorities straight! You haven't even asked who's in charge of Engineering!"

"Lieutenant Chapman, of course. He's been second in command here since we lost Lieutenant Carey," Icheb replied. Did Freddie think he didn't know that?

"Oh, yeah. Sure. You'd better check in with him. He's over there by Nicoletti."

Icheb reported to Chapman, who assigned him a station. And then, like everyone else, he waited.

=/\=

Icheb didn't have any access to his Astrometrics screen to follow this battle, but he didn't really need it. His eyes were fastened upon the gauges and warning lights on the control board in front of him. Chapman had assigned him to monitor _Voyager's_ shields, along with the new ablative armor plating in the same location. A set of dials had been tacked on the upper margin of the control board, enabling him to keep a close watch on that new system, too. Icheb was aware if every blow the ship sustained because of the way the entire vessel shook each time, but the dials gave him additional information about the location of possible damage, as well as the shield strength percentage in the affected area. Most of the time, both shields and armor recovered strength somewhat after being struck, but the overall trend was downward. If the battle went on for too long, all of _Voyager's_ defenses would inevitably fail; and then, as the saying goes, "That's all she wrote."

From his own internal chronometer, buried inside his cortical array, as well as the one at the top of his control board, Icheb knew the battle had lasted for less than an hour. It felt like days. Every time he lost his balance as a particularly on-target shot hit the ship, Icheb held his breath until he sensed the hull had held and not been breached. Icheb's fingers flew over his controls as he supplemented the automatic stabilizing system through his own actions. The shields and armor in his assigned area, on the port side of the ship, were holding up, but those on the starboard side were not. It was frustrating, since he had no knowledge of the captain's strategy and couldn't anticipate if one side was more exposed to the Borg's weapons than the other.

A line from the poem, "The Second Coming," by the twentieth century poet William Butler Yeats, kept cycling through his brain: "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold . . ." He wished it would stop. He didn't want _Voyager_ to fall apart. He refused to believe the rough beast, the Borg Queen, was slouching towards their ship even now. The admiral had to succeed. She had to.

Still, he kept expecting the call from the captain to come to the bridge or the shuttle bay, to ask him to lean forward and bare his neck for the hypospray that would turn him into an even more potent weapon than his parents had made of him; for the call to a final duty he could provide to those who had been so kind to him, who had rescued him from certain death many months ago. He'd enjoyed his life here, with an existence as an individual he could actually remember, unlike the time he'd spent growing up on Brunal, with a mother who had produced him for the sole purpose of sending him to deliver death to the Hive, and a father who may have loved him, but had helped her place their son in the path of the Borg a second time. Then, the sacrifice had been averted through the actions of Captain Janeway and this crew, but now he was prepared to make it happen, if necessary, to protect all of those he had grown to love and admire.

So he waited, until he heard the announcement that the last of the marvelous transphasic torpedoes had been dispatched towards its target. Once that last one was gone, he endured what he thought would be his last moments as an individual.

And he waited, and then he waited . . . and then he heard a ripple of surprise and stunned relief flow from one engineer to another as the word came down from the bridge: "We made it! We're out! We survived! We're home. We've come home to the Alpha Quadrant!"

Icheb carefully examined his control board. The shields were all holding steady, maintaining the same level as the last readings he'd observed a few minutes before. The ablative armor was still intact. There was no evidence of any more blows from Borg weaponry. The battle was over, and they must have won.

Wearily, he leaned against one of supportive ribs next to his station, listening to the cheers of his crewmates as they reveled in victory. _They_ were home, but as far as Icheb was concerned, as Naomi had observed when they parted at her door, he was about to lose his.

=/\=


	42. Aftermath

=/\=

Since Icheb was not one of the happy engineers who were rejoicing at their arrival "home," he was free to observe those few who, like himself, were more ambivalent. Escaping the clutches of the Borg was a great relief, of course, but many knew they had a trial of another sort in the offing. For some, enduring a trial might be a quite literal outcome. While Marla Gilmore had been excused from Engineering so she could stay with her little daughter during the plunge through the hub, James Morrow and Brian Sofin of the _Equinox_ Five had been assigned to serve in Engineering. They were huddled in a corner behind the warp core, observing the party atmosphere. It wasn't surprising to Icheb their expressions were funereal at best. Of all of the returnees, the _Equinox_ Five were the least likely to be pleased by what was to come.

Those who had been Maquis were also more subdued than _Voyager's_ original Starfleet crew. The ones within Icheb's immediate field of vision seemed relieved the trip home was over, but they weren't jumping up and down in excitement. Icheb couldn't tell if Tabor and his long-time girlfriend Olandra Jor were embracing in celebration or consolation. After exchanging a very brief, sweet kiss, they leaned back enough to gaze deeply into each other's eyes. Icheb had to look away. He'd only seen a look this intense on a few occasions, when B'Elanna and Tom were the ones doing the hugging, kissing, and gazing. Icheb suspected Olandra and Tabor were experiencing a mix of happiness, relief, and apprehension. From what he recalled when he'd spent time with the couple, particularly the time they hiked Tabor's Bajoran Trail program on the holodeck, Icheb had a hunch they'd be able to face almost anything, as long as they were allowed to do it together.

Icheb noticed Lieutenant Chapman approach the couple. Olandra saw the Starfleet officer almost as soon as Icheb did. When she took a step back and dropped her arms from Tabor's neck, the Bajoran engineer looked around and saw Chapman. "Sorry for this unseemly public display of affection, Lieutenant," he apologized, dropping his arms from her as well.

"No apology necessary under these circumstances," Chapman assured them, smiling broadly. "If I was as close to anyone as the two of you are to each other, I'd be hugging and kissing her myself!" He cleared his throat and added, with great sincerity, "I want you to know that everyone in the Engineering Division will fight for our crewmates who were in the Maquis. We've already discussed this. We want to make sure you get the same accolades and rewards the rest of us may receive from Starfleet. We know we couldn't have made it all the way home without you."

As Chapman shook hands warmly with Tabor and Jor, Icheb glanced behind the warp core to see if anyone was saying anything to Sofin and Morrow, but neither one was within Icheb's visual range anymore. As he bent to his right, thinking they'd simply stepped behind the glowing blue column of the core, his view was obstructed by Lieutenant Chapman's head as the lieutenant drew near to him. "Cadet, I want to thank you for all your services to Engineering during this engagement. I'll be letting the captain, Lieutenant Torres, and Seven know of your exemplary work here. I'll bet those Academy instructors won't know what hit them when you land in their classrooms! You could probably give some of them lessons!"

"Thank you, sir," Icheb replied, a little embarrassed by the lieutenant's effusive praise. "Are there any diagnostics you want me to run while I'm still here? I can start by checking out the shield and armor area I was monitoring at my station . . . "

Chapman chuckled. "No, Cadet. Thanks for the offer, but that can wait. I was contacted by Seven a few minutes ago. She asked that I send you up to Sickbay . . ."

"She wasn't injured, was she?" Icheb interrupted, suddenly feeling extremely uneasy because he knew so little about what happened to those on the bridge during what had to be a wild ride through the hub.

"No, nothing like that. I think Seven wants you with her when she meets the newest member of the crew."

"Has Lieutenant Torres had her baby?"

"I understand she has. Go on up there and meet her. And if we do need you to help out with anything down here, don't worry, I'll know where to find you. Dismissed."

Icheb didn't know where the impulse came from, but he took Lieutenant Chapman's right hand and shook it enthusiastically. A grinning Lieutenant Chapman put his other hand over Icheb's to return the gesture before saying, "Now, scoot!"

=/\=

As Icheb exited the turbolift and approached Sickbay, he encountered several crewmates from other departments who were celebrating in the corridors, too. The ship must have come through the fight fairly well. If not, everyone would be off repairing damage to critical systems to enable _Voyager_ travel on to Earth. He wondered how far they needed to travel before reaching their ultimate destination. As Seven had pointed out when they'd first discovered the wormholes, the Alpha Quadrant was very large. If they were only at the edge of what was considered the Alpha Quadrant's boundaries, their journey still might take months. What if they'd exited near the borders of the Romulan Empire? Or inside territory claimed by one of several other races who weren't friendly with the Federation? Their unexpected emergence into what others claimed was their space could still trigger another battle or two, unless _Voyager_ had exited closer to Earth.

He'd gotten that far in his ruminations when the Sickbay doors swished open. Several members of the crew were sitting on biobeds or being examined by the EMH and his secondary field medic staff, since Mr. Paris was obviously otherwise occupied. The Doctor looked up from his examination of Ensign Mucahey's arm to see who had entered and recited, as if by rote, "If you're a walking wounded casualty and need triage, see Ensign Wildman or Crewman Lessing. If you're volunteering your services to assist with triage, please pick up a medical tricorder and stand near Mr. Lessing. If you're here to exult over our victory over the Borg, please take your celebrations outside in the corridor. I'm too busy here for a party atmosphere."

"Actually, I was told Seven asked me to come here to meet B'Elanna and Tom's baby."

The Doctor sniffed and inclined his head to the rear of the Sickbay. "All visitors to the rear. And make it brief. Lieutenant Torres needs her rest - not that she's likely to get much in here, thanks to all the clamor."

When Icheb came near the biobed occupied by B'Elanna, he stopped and viewed the tableau before him. The new mother was gazing at her husband with a sweet grin on her lips. Tom was standing next to where B'Elanna was lying, holding their daughter, and gazing even more raptly at the little one's face than Tabor had just been looking at his girlfriend. If Tom had been at the helm during the birth, as Freddie had indicated, this might be the first time the new father beheld his daughter. Icheb felt like an interloper. When he took a step backward, however, he drew the chief engineer's attention. "Tom, we have a visitor."

Tom's head swiveled towards Icheb and said dreamily, "Come meet our little girl."

Tom held the baby so that Icheb could see her better. She looked a lot like her mother, although her forehead ridges were softer. Icheb didn't know whether this was because she was only a quarter Klingon, or if all newborn Klingons had softer features which needed time to mature into the ones usually seen in the adults. The baby was awake and looked in his direction. Icheb got the feeling that, as young as she was, she was able to see him fairly well. From his social relationship training, Icheb knew the most appropriate thing to say. Fortunately, it was the absolute truth: "She's beautiful."

"Yes, yes, she is," Tom said proudly, while B'Elanna chuckled softly.

Icheb turned to B'Elanna, saying, a bit slyly, "I think you have competition for the affections of your husband, Lieutenant Torres."

She laughed out loud at that comment. "Oh, I'm prepared for that. I don't mind sharing him with our daughter. He had to suffer through all those nights of false labor pains, too. Not that he had it as bad as I did."

Tom grinned as he made eye contact with his wife for a few seconds before gazing back down on their baby again. "It was worth it, wasn't it?"

"Yes. It was," she replied softly.

Icheb was going to step away then, to allow the family their private time, but the doors to Sickbay slid open behind him. He turned around to see Seven walk through, followed closely by Commander Chakotay. When the Doctor began his spiel, he hadn't gotten past "If you . . ." before the commander waved him to silence.

Icheb began to move aside to permit the couple to approach the family group, but Seven put her hand on Icheb's shoulder and held him in place.

Chakotay announced, "We can't stay long, but we did want to meet the newest member of our crew before things got crazier on the bridge than they already are."

"What designation have you decided upon giving your daughter?" Seven asked politely

Icheb couldn't resist. "Not Octavia, I suppose?"

Tom laughed. "No, not this time. We'll keep it in mind for the future. We'd like you all to meet Miral Torres Paris. Miral was B'Elanna's mother's name."

Since he'd found out that the maternal grandmother had died a couple of years ago, at the time B'Elanna herself had a near death experience, Icheb knew this wasn't something to joke about. He nodded slightly.

"Are you going to hyphenate her last name?" Chakotay inquired.

B'Elanna answered, "No, Torres will be her middle name. It's simpler that way. I don't think anyone will forget she's my daughter as time goes on. Not if she takes after me."

"And I'm going to love every minute of it," Tom declared. "So who's at the helm now, since you're here, Commander?"

"Since we're so close to Earth, I decided Jenkins could handle it."

"So close? How close are we?" Icheb asked.

"About a light year," the commander replied.

Icheb was too stunned to say anything more, but Seven squeezed his shoulder, whether to comfort him or herself, he couldn't tell. They'd arrived right on the doorstep of the central planet of the Federation! He felt a touch of panic as he realized he would be losing his home even sooner than he'd thought possible.

Whether their discussion would have continued any longer, Icheb didn't know. Their visit was cut short by the EMH at his most imperious. "Visiting hours for the crew are over, if you please. Let the family continue their bonding experience without further outside interference!"

They all turned to leave, as ordered. Icheb walked with Seven out into the corridor, where several crew members were celebrating. He was glad to see the commander had stepped away from them and had approached Crewman Lessing instead. Icheb didn't hear the verbal exchange between the two, but just before the doors to Sickbay closed to obscure his view, Icheb saw the commander clap his hand on Noah's shoulder. The Sciences officer smiled weakly in return. Maquis commander to _Equinox_ Five crewman, both with uncertain futures, were taking a moment to comfort each other.

=/\=

Icheb finally learned what had happened in the Trans-Warp Hub later that night from Naomi, when he arrived in the Mess Hall and saw her sitting in the corner, all by herself. Once Icheb had set his tray down on the table and taken a seat next to her, she informed him, "Mom is still working in Sickbay with the Doctor. We were lucky. There are only a few minor injuries to the crew, she told me, but the Doctor asked her to stay a little longer to keep a close eye on a couple of patients. She thinks he wanted to contact Starfleet Medical about his status."

"I was in Sickbay for a short while today. I didn't notice anyone lying down while the medics worked on them. I'm glad the injuries weren't serious. While I was there I met Tom and B'Elanna's baby. Have you seen her yet?"

Naomi smiled. "I did. She's really cute. I went there to ask Mom if I should wait for her to be free before coming to the Mess Hall for dinner. Tom called me over to introduce me. He's a very proud dad." Icheb nodded agreement, but before he could say anything else, his companion sighed. "I hope my father will be just as proud as that when he meets me for the first time."

"I'm sure he will be, Naomi. He's been waiting years to meet you. That's even longer than B'Elanna was pregnant."

She giggled nervously. "My mom was pregnant with me for over a year, you know. But you're right. He's known about me for three and a half years. I bet he'll be shocked that we're actually here so soon."

Icheb ate a few more forkfuls of his food before asking the question he hoped his friend could answer. "Naomi, since you always seem to know all the gossip, how did we get here, so close to Earth? I was too busy at my post in Engineering to know how everything went. And then I was called back to work on repairs to the shields until now.

"Well, you know Admiral Janeway's ship from the future was equipped with a form of stealth shielding that wasn't compatible with _Voyager's_ systems. She used it when she went through the hub to accomplish her part of the mission. I don't know what her mission was, exactly. A diversion, maybe?" Naomi looked expectantly at Icheb, practically begging him to tell her anything he knew. Why she suspected he had information she did not, he had no idea, but he wasn't about to tell her what he did know.

After Icheb shrugged his shoulders, she continued, "Well, I'm sure you knew about all the Borg vessels firing on us. You must have felt that in Engineering." He nodded his head as he chewed a bite of his casserole. "The transphasic torpedoes worked just as well as they did the first time we used them on the Borg. We were able to fly inside the hub. Seven had identified the best conduits to use to get closest to Earth, but it wasn't easy getting to one. There was a lot of fighting, and _Voyager_ began to run out of the torpedoes. Eventually, we only had one left."

"I was at my duty station when Lieutenant Chapman announced the last one had been launched. Something must have happened before that, though, because the ship wasn't hit by weapons fire for a little while before that last one was sent off."

"Oh, that's when we were inside the Borg sphere."

Icheb stared at her in shock. "We were inside a Borg vessel?"

"Yup. Everything was timed just right. When the Borg ship came out into normal space, Tuvok fired the last torpedo from inside, and blew the sphere open. There was a fleet of Starfleet ships waiting, ready to defend Earth from the Borg, but they didn't need to do anything. _Voyager_ was the only intact ship they faced. And you know what the captain said to Admiral Paris, when we were hailed by Starfleet Command? She said, 'Sorry to surprise you. Next time, we'll call ahead.'" Despite the chatty, casual way she described this to Icheb, Naomi's laughter had a slightly hysterical edge. She wasn't as blasé about all this as she was letting on to Icheb.

"Well, I hope there never _is_ a 'next time,' don't you?" Icheb said, smiling in a way he hoped was encouraging.

"Oh, I hope not, too." Naomi sighed then. "I was hoping someone would say the admiral's little ship came out of the hub before ours, but no one's said anything about her. If we hadn't been in the corridor when she walked to the shuttle bay to get to her ship, I wouldn't have known she'd left when she did. The official visual logs don't even show that she was ever on the ship at all. Some logs are damaged in spots. I haven't seen her in any of the ones I've looked at so far. "

"Naomi, you haven't been hacking into the official logs, have you?"

"Sure. Mezoti showed me how to do it. How else do you think I found out about being inside the sphere and all? You know my mom wouldn't have told me about that."

=/\=


	43. Secrets and Scuttlebutt

=/\=

There wasn't any official word from the captain to the crew. That sort of announcement would have appeared in the official logs, and despite ample evidence otherwise, beginning with Captain Kirk's _Enterprise_ and continuing to the present day, time travel was supposed to be impossible. Four years before, _Voyager_ itself had traveled back to the twentieth century and obtained 25th century technology in the form of the Doctor's mobile emitter, irrefutable evidence that it _was_ feasible. But, in the form of "scuttlebutt" passed by word of mouth to every person who resided on _Voyager_ (with the exception of Aimee Gilmore and Miral Paris, who were too young to let anything slip), everyone was ordered not to say anything at all about Admiral Janeway's sojourn on _Voyager_. The captain would report everything she felt was required to reveal during her debriefings with "the brass." Everyone else was to say absolutely nothing. If pressed, the staff could say the information was classified, and the interrogator was to go to the captain for an explanation.

They'd burst out of the hub so close to Earth, they could have reached orbit in hours, but the captain reduced their speed to less than a quarter impulse, to give everyone a couple of days to absorb everything that had occurred. There were a few visitors to the ship, however. Admiral Paris and Lieutenant Reginald Barclay arrived the morning after the arrival, along with a small contingent of Starfleet staff. They had come to begin debriefing the crew. Icheb noticed they seemed to be starting with _Voyager's_ assigned Starfleet personnel. Admiral Paris wasn't taking any part in this activity, however. He was on a much more personal mission.

The admiral came to welcome his son back home and meet his daughter-in-law and new granddaughter in person. Although the only ones who knew for certain what Tom and his father said to each other were those in the Paris-Torres family quarters at the time, when Icheb passed Tom in the corridor later that day, the helmsman's smile was so radiant, Icheb was certain it had been a very happy reunion.

Lieutenant Barclay came to Astrometrics while Icheb was on duty there, bouncing in on his first "real life" tour of _Voyager_. This "Reg" knew exactly who Icheb was. They spent over a half hour discussing the neutrino emissions detector, Icheb's invention. Reg knew the device had led _Voyager_ to the place where all of the wormholes were located, but he didn't seem to know about the Trans-Warp Hub yet. If he did, he kept it to himself. Icheb thought the main reason for this visit, other than the obvious one (to walk through the corridors of the ship he'd dreamed about for years) was to see if Icheb would let anything slip about the journey home. Icheb had been Borg. He knew how to keep his own counsel, especially since specific orders to do so had been transmitted to him from the captain.

That evening, when Icheb went to the quarters he still shared with Ensign Bristow, he found a message from Lieutenant Torres on the computer console, thanking him for his work in Engineering. She'd spoken to Chapman. "He has nothing but praise for you, 'Cadet Icheb.' We're asking Captain Janeway to confer a special commendation because of your 'extremely valuable contribution to _Voyager's_ successful return to the Alpha Quadrant.'" Icheb noted she didn't give any further specifics in writing. She closed her message by inviting him to come by and visit the Paris-Torres quarters "any time."

This message was very gratifying (although Icheb decided that if he was going to visit the family in their quarters, he would take "any time" to mean "any time after calling ahead first"). Icheb thought he might visit the family again and was about to contact them when he was struck by a new question. Perhaps the Doctor could answer this one better than the new parents could. A visit to Sickbay was indicated.

=/\=

Sickbay was silent and empty when Icheb entered, until the EMH shimmered into existence. "Please state the nature of . . . oh, Icheb. It's you. You're not suffering from a medical problem, are you?" Icheb thought it was sad that the Doctor actually sounded a little eager when he asked this, as if he wanted something to do.

"No, Doctor. I'm fine. I just had a question for you. Where was Miral born? Is she like Aimee Gilmore, Naomi, and Icheb and me? Was she born in the Delta Quadrant? Or was she born in the Alpha Quadrant?"

"That's a very good question, Icheb, and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to answer it. The only entry necessary for the birth certification is that she was born 'on _USS_ _Voyager_.' Since her parents are both citizens of the Federation, she is also."

"Don't Tom and B'Elanna want to know?"

"They were much more interested in the fact she was a beautiful and healthy little girl. Her place of birth is an academic question. If someone in the Federation wants to know that, they'll need to peruse the ship's logs and take note of the time _Voyager_ crossed the boundary between the quadrants. That is, if they can even determine where that is. Considering our 'route' back to this quadrant was rather unconventional, the 'border' may be impossible to identify. It's not likely anyone really needs to know. Miral is a citizen of the Federation no matter where the ship was located when she was born."

"I guess that's true."

"Do you want more Delta Quadrant-born cohorts, Icheb?"

Icheb considered the question seriously. Did it really matter that much to him? Maybe it did, even if it didn't matter to Miral. "Perhaps I'm curious because I'm unsure of my own status."

"I'm sure you're considered a citizen, too."

"I don't think so - not until Seven adopts me. When she does, I guess I'll be a citizen because she is, but I'm not sure if I will be until then."

"I never considered there would be any question about your situation, Icheb. Of course, Marla Gilmore is adopting Aimee, and Naomi is also the child of two Federation citizens. There will be no uncertainty with either of them. It isn't a very comfortable feeling, to be uncertain of your future, is it?"

It suddenly occurred to Icheb that the Doctor also faced uncertainty because of _Voyager's_ return to the Alpha Quadrant. The EMH could face new challenges, too. "Are you worried about your status as a citizen, too, Doctor?"

The EMH snorted, "Citizen! I haven't been granted the privilege of personhood as of yet. All the hearing concerning my kerfuffle with Broht established was that I was an 'artist' and could control my own works. Until a court of law unequivocally declares sentient photonics as people, I need to worry about my very existence as an independent being."

"Surely not! You have your mobile emitter. You aren't tied to _Voyager's_ Sickbay, like you were when you were first activated."

"A piece of technology. That's all I was to the Dinaali and the Dralian trader, Gar. I was a commodity, to be bought and sold."

"I know it's ancient history now, Doctor, but people were also treated as commodities to be bought and sold centuries ago," Icheb gently reminded him.

The Doctor, who had been circling his Sickbay as he expounded upon his fate, stopped and stared at Icheb. In a more moderated tone of vocal subroutine, he said, "You're quite right, Icheb. I hadn't considered that. I hope it doesn't take a war for photonics to achieve permanent status as beings worthy of existence - as we saw in the Delta Quadrant - and which we also know from Alpha Quadrant history. It will take official recognition by the passage of laws or court determinations before I will rest easy about my future."

"You're just the photonic being qualified to push for that," Icheb stated with a smile.

"Thank you for your confidence in me. You may be assured I'm going to insist upon my right to do so once we arrive on Earth." The EMH smiled back at Icheb. "I wouldn't worry about your own status, Icheb. I have no doubt Captain Janeway will insist upon citizenship for you, even before Seven finishes your adoption. You've earned a place in the Federation by your actions. _ALL_ your actions, even those we aren't supposed to talk about."

The Doctor knew about Admiral Janeway's use of the serum he'd developed, of course, since it had been done under the EMH's supervision. Nodding his head to acknowledge he'd caught the Doctor's hidden meaning, he replied, "Thank you for this very interesting discussion, Doctor. I think it's time I go. With everything that's been going on, I'm tired. I think I'll go to my quarters and crawl into my bunk to sleep. Oh, and thanks for suggesting that, Doctor. I find I actually prefer resting in a bed now."

"Excellent, Icheb. If we're done here, perhaps I'll see if any holodeck time is available this evening. Mr. Paris isn't free, of course, but I believe Ensign Wildman or Crewman Lessing may be willing to cover Sickbay for a few hours."

Thinking that Noah probably would be willing to do almost anything to divert him from mulling over his own uncertain future, Icheb said good-bye to the EMH.

As he walked back to his quarters, Icheb thought about his newly-discovered preferred manner of sleeping. _I'm not a Borg anymore. I wonder if any are left?_

That was something no one knew yet.

=/\=


	44. The Captain and the Commander Speak

=/\=

By the time Captain Janeway requested that all off-duty personnel attend a general staff meeting on Holodeck One, Icheb had resigned himself to the fact his life on _Voyager_ was about to end. When he entered the holodeck, he saw Tom's recreation of Chicago's Old Palace Theatre was running. It was a logical program to use, since it required little in the way of adjustments to turn it into an auditorium capable of seating the entire crew. Those who were on duty would listen to the captain's remarks over the ship's comm system. Harry Kim had been given command of the bridge while the meeting took place. It was unusual for an ensign to serve in that capacity, but then, _Voyager_ was an unusual ship. He'd been in command for many shifts during the past few years. Besides, no one expected Harry's frustration over not being promoted to last much longer. Everyone knew he would be named a junior grade lieutenant any day now. Icheb had even heard a betting pool was running for those who believed he'd jump a grade to full lieutenant right away. Not many full lieutenants had as much experience in the command chair as Ensign Harry Kim did.

Icheb took a seat towards the back of the theatre, between Seven and B'Elanna. Tom, cradling little Miral in his arms, sat to B'Elanna's right. Chakotay was standing next to the captain at the front of the auditorium. She was clutching a lecturer's podium as if she needed its support while she addressed her crew. Perhaps she did. Much of what she was likely to share could upset many in her audience.

When the last of the those expected to attend had trickled in and had taken their seats, the captain began, "Welcome, all, to the Alpha Quadrant." She had to wait several seconds for cheering to die down from the Starfleet contingent present. The sound was more subdued than Icheb expected. Then he noticed that all of the _Equinox_ and _Val Jean_ crew members were here in the auditorium. Commander Chakotay must have had to do a considerable amount of tweaking to his duty roster for everyone at a duty station to be one of the Starfleet regulars. Icheb hadn't really thought about why his scheduled shift in Astrometrics had been delayed. Now he understood, and he became a little uneasy. When he saw the Doctor sitting in the first row, his nervousness increased. The EMH had also been summoned to attend the meeting in person. The captain and commander must have information they needed to impart directly to those who would be most affected by whatever the two of them had to say.

When the room quieted, the captain continued, "I'm sure you've all noticed we've been traveling far more slowly than necessary to reach Earth. While I would have advised this in any case, since our return has shocked us almost as much as it has our family and friends, the Admiralty said they wanted time to arrange a proper celebration for our homecoming. Tom, upon my signal, you have permission from the San Francisco City Council and Starfleet Command to swoop _Voyager_ over the Golden Gate Bridge. But you'll have to watch out so you don't fly into any of the fireworks displays they're sending up during the flight. We don't want _Voyager_ shot down by anything as primitive as a sky rocket." Everyone laughed and hooted good naturedly at Tom, who stood up and bowed, with Miral still nestled in his arms. Icheb noted this news was received well by everyone present.

After the laughter died down, she continued, "The fireworks displays will be visible on screens throughout the ship. B'Elanna, I'm granting permission for you to be seated at the Engineering station on the bridge with Miral on your lap. I wouldn't want little Miral to miss this, even though she's unlikely to remember it. Right after you fly over the bridge, Tom, you'll take _Voyager_ back up into the skies and assume Earth orbit.

"I understand the _Enterprise_ has just arrived. Captain Picard has offered to provide substitutes from his crew to man all duty stations whenever necessary for the next few days, so all of us can transport down for the planned festivities. A grand parade and a luncheon will be held in our honor. After the luncheon, we'll return to the ship right away and will remain on _Voyager_ to permit continued debriefing sessions by Starfleet personnel. They'll keep at it until they're satisfied the job is done. After seven years of travel through previously unknown space, they'll have many events and discoveries to review. Please be patient with them. Answer all their questions in full. Be thankful you aren't the ones who'll have to analyze all of that data!"

While her audience chuckled at the image of their inquisitors having to absorb seven years' worth of the strange new worlds, cultures, interstellar phenomenon, and the odd gaseous anomaly encountered in the Delta Quadrant, the captain stepped back and exchanged a sober look with Commander Chakotay. Icheb thought she needed to take a moment to collect herself. As the silence from the command team became a little prolonged, he could hear the rustling of the audience as they moved restlessly in their seats. No one appeared to miss the apparent change of mood of their leaders. Captain Janeway took a moment to survey the audience, as if she wanted to imprint the image of each person's face into her memory. There must be a reason those present were chosen to receive this information directly from the captain and commander. Icheb's apprehension grew.

After the commander spoke for the first time, saying simply, "Everyone, settle down, now. We're almost there," he stepped aside to allow the captain to step up to the podium again. The break must have helped, for this time, she spoke in the commanding tone of voice she usually used.

"Each member of our crew will be given specific instructions on what to expect after his or her debriefing has been completed. Please note, you must be prepared to be debriefed more than once. Some of us will have multiple interviews, with personnel having different areas of expertise asking the questions. I don't need tell you these inquiries may dredge up some very unhappy memories. There's no help for it; we must cooperate with the process. Our journey through the Delta Quadrant was a unique adventure; and although I've been sending out official logs ever since regular contact was initiated with Starfleet Command via Pathfinder, no log entry can ever provide the details the Admiralty believes it needs to know. Answer all their questions as accurately and fully as you can. No subject is off limits in these debriefing sessions - time travel included! I expect to be the one bombarded with most of those inquiries, but they may wish to hear from some of you about your experiences with temporal matters as well.

"Once you are allowed to leave the ship to visit with your own friends and families, however, others will have questions - especially reporters. Do not feel compelled to answer any question put to you which you feel is impertinent or obtrusive, especially regarding one subject about which you must remain silent. If _any_ questions about the _Equinox_ are asked by _anyone_ other than Starfleet staff during a debriefing, your only answer must be, 'I have no information to share about that.' All information about the _Equinox_ has been classified as top secret and is not to be disclosed to anyone without prior authorization from Starfleet Command. I hope I've made myself clear."

The murmuring voices of the crew, combined with their nodding heads, reassured Icheb. He noticed all five of the crew from the _Equinox_ were sitting together, in the same row. They obviously had expected this subject to come up and wanted the support of the others whenever the captain might address the matter which affected them the most.

The captain sighed before making closing remarks. "As I look at you all, I am mindful, of course, of those who were forced to remain at their duty stations during this meeting; but I also recall many faces I wish I could see, or know are at their posts; but they're not and never will be again. I wish everyone who landed at the Caretaker's doorstep had survived and made it back with us. We lost too many of our fellow crew members along the way. They gave their lives so we could be here now, approaching Earth. None of us will ever forget them. I know I never shall.

"If someone asks you a question you feel disinclined to answer, change the subject. Feel free to share a less fraught anecdote which one of those who cannot speak for themselves might have offered instead. There are times to sidestep the inquiries of the merely curious, and I'm sure those we lost wouldn't mind helping you out in this manner. We need to remind the entire Federation, as well as ourselves, how much we honor our lost comrades for their service. We will _always_ remember them. Everyone else should, too."

The entire auditorium erupted in applause. When a few stood up, still clapping, others followed, until the standing ovation had spread to all but one person. That was Tom, who was sitting with his head down over Miral, who'd been awakened by the noise and was adding her own wailing voice to the accolades from the crew. B'Elanna bent down and took her baby from her husband's arms, freeing him to stand and applaud with everyone else. Icheb noticed a tear running down the helmsman's cheek. He hoped he'd remember to ask Tom why he'd reacted that way later, when they might get the chance to go over, in private, everything the captain and commander had said.

Icheb thought the meeting would end at that point, but after a minute or so, the captain waved her hands downward, signaling everyone to take a seat, and ceded the podium to Chakotay.

"I don't think any of you envy me for having to follow that speech of our captain's," he said, initiating another brief spate of applause before he continued his own remarks. "Everything has changed. Thanks to Pathfinder, and to our contacts with the Alpha Quadrant during our Project Watson moments with family and friends during the past several months, we know how profoundly the Dominion War altered everything we thought we knew about what most of us consider our 'home' area of space. Some of us, like Seven of Nine, Icheb, and Naomi, have always considered the Delta Quadrant 'home.' Their lives will undergo an even more radical change now that we've reached our goal. I hope everyone helps them with the difficult transitions they will need to make to life in this quadrant.

"While we will inevitably go our separate ways after all of the debriefings are done and new assignments are given, we should remember one thing. The crucible of our experiences forged a _Voyager_ family. We'll enjoy reunions in the future, I'm sure; but before we get to that happy time when we can meet without worrying about what will come next, some of us will have to undergo trials of a different sort than those we endured during our travels. I've had the chance to speak with many of you over the past few days, but the captain and I have been given more information about how the Admiralty expects to proceed with those of us who were Maquis, and those who served on _Equinox_. We wish to share what we've been told with the ones who will be most affected. So, the captain has given me the honor of calling an end to this meeting. While _Voyager's_ regular Starfleet crew are now dismissed, we ask the rest of you to remain so we can advise you of what we've learned."

From the worried comments from some of the Starfleet crew members in reaction to this news, Icheb thought many had not considered how differently their crewmates might be treated from the way they would be. Or, perhaps, they were fully aware, but they'd put it out of their minds in the joy of reaching the end of the journey. Many were shaking hands and hugging their friends who were to stay at the meeting. Freddie Bristow sought out Icheb and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Roomie," he said. " _You_ have nothing to worry about."

When the Starfleet crew had finally sifted out, taking Naomi with them, since, for the purposes of this meeting, she was considered to be Starfleet, Commander Chakotay said, "All _Val Jean_ crew members, please join me in the back of the room. We'll meet there. Our _Equinox_ crew members, along with Thomas Paris, Seven of Nine, Icheb, and the Doctor - please move up front. The captain wishes to speak with you."

After the small group had reassembled next to the podium, with the captain positioned in the center of them, she began, "I don't need to tell you that all of you are special cases. We know the Starfleet crew will be free to leave _Voyager_ fairly soon, after their debriefings are finished. All of you, along with the former Maquis, won't be allowed to leave the ship until the authorities have decided exactly what's going to happen to you. Tom, did your father go over your situation with you during his visit?"

"He told me what I already knew. Before anything else is decided about my future, I'll have my Out-Mate Review - the one I was supposed to have six years ago. You promised to speak up for me when you 'recruited' me for this 'short trip' into the Badlands, if you recall, Captain." Everyone laughed at this reminder, relieving a little of the tension, Icheb thought. A little, but not a lot.

"And I will do just that, Mr. Paris. I'll have lots more to tell them than I would have six years ago, I can tell you that."

"Some of it good, I hope," Tom said, a smile on his face, and everyone tittered again. His record on _Voyager_ did have a few blots, but overall he'd done so well, no one doubted his prison days were over. His days as a provisional Starfleet officer, however, were very much in doubt. Icheb wondered if Tom really wanted to stay in the service after everything that had happened. He suspected he would, if B'Elanna was allowed to remain.

"Once your review is over, you'll be free to leave the ship, I suspect. However, I don't know how long Commander Chakotay's former crew will have to wait until they're free to go."

"Understood, Captain. As long as B'Elanna is here, I will be, too. I refuse to be separated from my family until all of us are free to go wherever we wish."

She slowly nodded her head, a rueful smile on her face. Obviously, that was the response she'd expected from her "personal reclamation project." Turning to Seven and Icheb, the captain said, "Icheb, I understand several professors from the Academy are eager to interview you as soon as your Starfleet Command debriefings have been completed. Some may not want to wait even that long. Tuvok has recommended you receive credit for everything you've accomplished since your arrival on _Voyager_ , not just for course work you've completed since you were officially accepted by the Academy. He's gone on record that you've achieved second-year level, which would make you a member of the Class of 2380. The professors will decide if this is appropriate. Once they've decided where to place you, you'll receive a class schedule and a room on campus."

Seven regarded Icheb warmly, with her mouth pursed in the way he had learned was her way of wordlessly expressing pride in him. He was happy with all that the captain had related, but he still had a few important questions he needed answered. "Captain, have you heard anything about my status in the Federation?"

The captain glanced over at Seven, who moved her head ever so slightly, as if to give the captain permission to speak. That struck Icheb as strange until he heard what the captain had to convey. "I was going to let Seven inform you of that, Icheb. Since you've asked me, however, I'll tell you that your interviews will include one with an official from the local Office of the Courts. Since you will reside in San Francisco for the immediate future, that will be where your adoption hearing is to be held. I understand that should occur within the next few weeks. Starfleet Command has requested your case be expedited, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be. Marla, that goes for Aimee's hearing as well. Yours actually will take place within the next few days, I understand, since the hearing had been scheduled to occur sometime this week even before our sudden return to this quadrant. The only reason Icheb's will take a little longer is that Icheb will be asked to express his opinion about whether or not he wishes to be adopted by Seven before his hearing can take place."

"Of course I want her to adopt me!" Icheb declared.

Everyone laughed as Seven placed her arm around his shoulders and gave him the slightest of hugs. The captain grinned and said, " _We_ know that, of course. The courts insist on knowing it, too. They're just following their protocols. And Seven, Marla, since both of you are citizens, I've also been assured that Federation citizenship will also be conferred officially on Icheb and Aimee as soon as the adoptions are finalized."

"That's a relief," Marla said, giving her daughter a soft kiss on the brow. "Aimee will have a family to care for her, no matter what happens to me. My sister will be her substitute guardian."

The captain's smile faded a little, and she sighed deeply before saying, "That brings me to you, and to your former crewmates." The captain looked from Marla, to Noah, and then to Jim, Brian, and Angelo. "I haven't been given any information at all about what to expect for the five of you, other than the fact that all information about what happened on _Equinox_ has been classified and is not to be discussed with anyone other than official representatives from Starfleet Command. I don't think I need to remind you that some unscrupulous reporters misrepresent themselves in attempts to gain a 'scoop.' If anyone should question you outside of debriefing sessions, don't answer them unless you've seen that person's credentials and are certain they're genuine. To be safe, I would refuse to answer anyone without the presence of Chakotay, or me, or your assigned legal counselor. Protecting you from difficulties on that score is a major reason the crew is required to remain on board _Voyager_ until such time as they're given specific permission to leave. We may be asked to testify on your behalf. I know for a fact that several of your crewmates who are likely to be allowed to leave _Voyager_ fairly quickly have requested the right to remain on board so they'll be available to do this for you, as well as for our Maquis crew."

"Captain, does this have anything to do with what my sister told me about the efforts of the families of Captain Ransom and Lieutenant Burke for Starfleet to give commendations to them for their 'heroism' in the Delta Quadrant?"

The captain looked towards the ceiling, as if asking for the strength to answer Marla's query. "I expect it does, although I haven't been given any official word about it." She looked at the rest of the _Equinox_ Five in turn and saw them shaking their heads. It was obvious to Icheb they all knew about this rumor, either from their own family contacts or from Marla telling them about her sister's information. "If they ask me for my recommendation, I doubt I'll give one. For them to be singled out for such an honor, under the circumstances, would be ludicrous. However, I _will_ do it if it means all of you will be given commendations as well. At the very least, you deserve pardons for the actions you took under their direction. To free you from punishment, I'd swallow my scruples. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt those in power will agree to my precondition. The Admiralty will do what they will do when it comes to your former commanding officers. Frankly, they'll be after me for more than a few messy decisions I made when we were all alone out there, but I do want you to know I'll support you to my last breath - if they let me."

Icheb exhaled suddenly. Until then, he hadn't realized he'd been holding his own breath for the last part of this speech. He'd never heard the captain speak of what had happened during the encounter with the other "lost in space" Starfleet ship before, and he didn't miss the way Captain Janeway maintained eye contact with Noah Lessing while she talked about the Admiralty's questions about her, either. Having reviewed the logs, Icheb realized one of her "messy decisions" had been the way she'd threatened Noah with death if he didn't provide answers to her questions after he was captured while on an _Equinox_ away mission. She'd removed Commander Chakotay from his duties when he tried to stop her from carrying out her threat, too. He'd heard she'd later admitted it wasn't her "finest hour."

It had never occurred to Icheb before that Captain Janeway might be in as precarious a situation as the others who were in this room at this moment. Her actions would be judged by those who had never been in as extreme a situation she'd been - or that Rudy Ransom had been, either. It was a sobering revelation.

No one else said a word after the captain's declaration until she herself turned to the Doctor and said, briskly, "I hope it goes without saying that I will be fighting tooth and nail for you to receive the status of a 'person' and citizen of the Federation, Doctor. Personally, I don't care if that status is conferred on any other photonic being at this point, although I'm certain there are others who would qualify. I'm confidant you'll do the fighting for all of them if necessary. Admiral Paris told me Doctor Zimmerman has already contacted the Admiralty about when you'll be free to visit him on Jupiter Station. I believe Starfleet Medical has also requested you come there for an extensive period to 'download' all you've learned in the Delta Quadrant. The fact you were able to heal your creator from an exotic medical condition they'd considered incurable has not escaped their notice. We'll let them hammer out an agreement, but I want you to relax. You're not going to be decompiled or sent to any garbage handling facility on my watch, I assure you."

"I'm gratified to hear that, Captain," the Doctor replied. "Although I may wish to visit some of those facilities to assess the conditions there. I'm sure they're appalling, and my brothers will need my support in their own fight for recognition."

"I'm sure you will, Doctor - eventually. One thing, though. _Please_ be careful how you communicate your experiences on _Voyager_ to those who aren't already in the know."

After the round of laughter died down, the Doctor said, "Don't worry. Any future holodeck programs will look nothing at all like the original version of 'Photons, Be Free.'" The EMH managed to look apologetic at the same time he was preening at the captain's support of his program. Icheb didn't understand how the Doctor could convey both at the same time. Apparently Icheb's own ability to recognize conflicting emotions still needed some work.

The captain closed their meeting-within-a-meeting with, "Like the commander said, we're family. We're all in this together, people. Remember that. I know I will."

Icheb was sure he would, also.

=/\=


	45. Celebrations and Debriefings Galore

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _54993.2_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Until today, I hadn't noticed I hadn't posted anything in my personal log recently. So much has been going on to distract me. Although I've had much to consider since our arrival in the Alpha Quadrant, I haven't been able to organize my thoughts well enough to record them here up to now. I'll try to do better from now on._

 _We've had our fly-by over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco; we paraded through the city with confetti and streamers raining down upon our heads; and our "Welcome Home, Voyager!" luncheon is over. Several Federation and Starfleet officers who spoke at it advised us to be prepared for many more "welcoming" events. I hope they mean to include ALL the crew when they hold any more of them._

 _I expected to view the fly-by and fireworks on the screen in Astrometrics, but Naomi invited me to watch them through the Mess Hall windows with her and her mother. Seven thought I'd enjoy it more if I were with friends instead of standing alone in Astrometrics, since Seven would be at her bridge station that evening. Several news organizations had contacted the captain and assured her they would transmit a view of everything from their own imaging equipment to Voyager, which meant we'd be able to see what those on the ground did, as well as the official log recording from the bridge viewscreen. I finished watching both recordings just before starting this log entry. It truly was a spectacular event. Seven was right. I'm glad my "live" view took place with friends, looking out of the Mess Hall windows._

 _Maybe it was the company. Ensign Wildman had tears in her eyes and hugged Naomi fiercely as we passed over the bridge. Tom managed to dodge all the sky rockets, just as the captain had cautioned him to do. It was exciting to see the bright colors and glittering rockets bursting above, around, and below us as we sailed by the bridge and up into the sky before assuming orbit around the Earth. As we made our first few transits over the night side of the planet, we could see other cities lighting up their skies with lighting displays as we passed over them, to let us know how happy they were we were home. That got to me. I felt moisture in my eyes, and Naomi reached out to squeeze my hand once she noticed. The fireworks which "greeted" me when I reached my home planet had been so very different. I saw them later when I hacked into the logs: Voyager, firing on the Borg sphere that was using a tractor beam to draw my Brunali transport inside their vessel; followed by the explosion of the photon torpedo which they'd transported inside my little ship in exchange for me. That saved me from enduring a second assimilation while simultaneously allowing Voyager to escape. The Borg sphere had been too damaged to pursue our ship._

 _Naomi told me afterwards that when she saw my tears, she guessed I might be thinking about something like that. I thanked her then, but I think I need to speak to her again to let her know just how much her friendship means to me. We've grown very close in the past year, despite the difference in our ages. Actually, that difference has lessened quite a bit over the past several months. Ktarian children - or half-Ktarians, like Naomi - may develop physically in half the time human ones do, but her mental maturity level may be even greater even than that of other Ktarian children of equivalent age. Naomi has lived virtually her entire life with adults. She never had day-to-day contact with any children until our Collective came on board. She's experienced many critical events just since I've known her, even before Admiral Janeway arrived on Voyager. (I'm not afraid to record that now, since the captain told us we must answer all questions in our debriefings. If we're revealing how we got through the Trans-Warp Hub, the admiral's coming from the future can't be concealed any longer.)_

 _Anyway, since our fly-by occurred at night, our parade and the welcome home luncheon didn't take place until the next day. The parade was fun, although, since we were sitting in ground vehicles hovering just over the roadway, the spectators lining the streets and cheering us probably had a better view of it than we did. All we could see were the groups immediately before and behind us. I heard the band playing right in front of the vehicle I shared with Seven, Tom, B'Elanna, and Miral, but I couldn't hear any others. What I could hear was nice, although the music was very different from what I'd expected, based on music I'd listened to on Voyager. The group playing nearest to us was a Celtic pipe and drum band. Tom explained the swirling, almost wild sound came from the bagpipes. The music may have sounded strange, but I really liked it. B'Elanna didn't. She said some of the songs would have fit right in with Klingon operas. B'Elanna apparently isn't a fan._

 _Tom had warned me the luncheon would be a "rubber chicken event." I wasn't looking forward to the meal after he told us that, but it actually tasted very good. When I mentioned this to B'Elanna and Seven, they both laughed. B'Elanna informed me that a "rubber chicken event" had more to do with the speeches we'd be forced to listen to, not the food itself. And she was right. There were a LOT of speeches. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were sitting next to each other on the main dais, which was located in front of all of the other tables in the hall. They were both asked to say "a few words" to thank everyone for the "warm welcome." I hoped Commander Chakotay's prominent place and chance to speak boded well, indicating that the Federation and Starfleet were welcoming all of the Maquis as warmly as the Starfleet crew._

 _I'd hoped to get a chance to do a little sightseeing after the luncheon, but we were transported back up to Voyager as soon as it was over. Captain Janeway explained we all had to stay on board until we were dismissed from our individual debriefings. I guess I can wait a little longer to visit Griffith Observatory with Tom. He promised to take me there to show me where Tuvok and him exchanged phaser fire with one of Henry Starling's henchmen. That occurred when Voyager went back to the twentieth century. That's where they met a woman named Rain Robinson who, Tom said, "was really smart and nice." That's before he and B'Elanna "got close," as he put it._

 _I've looked up a Rain Robinson who'd worked at the Griffith Observatory during the late twentieth century. After she left her job there, she took a position at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. She was on that staff during several of the unmanned missions to the outer planets; and she was a member of the team which planned the first manned missions to Mars. While meeting Tom may have influenced her choice of employment, Tuvok may have made more an even greater impression. Tom admits she probably guessed that Tuvok's Vulcan ears weren't shaped the way they are due to a "family trait." That was Tom's explanation. Strictly speaking, that's an accurate description of why they look that way, though. Tuvok inherited those ears from his parents!_

 _We understand Voyager will remain in orbit for a while, but rumor has it that it will go to Space Dock as soon as everyone has had their "dispositions" confirmed. All of the Borg-related and futuristic alterations which have been made to the ship are making Starfleet engineers "salivate," according to Freddie. They want to examine everything to see what can be adapted immediately to Starfleet's current starships. During our trip through the Delta Quadrant, the crew encountered several other advanced propulsion systems which they've tried to perfect - so far, without success. Although they hadn't managed to get any to work for Voyager before the admiral's temporal venture helped us return, now that we've arrived where the greatest engineering minds in the Federation are located, and with the resources available here, the problems inherent in one or more may soon be overcome. Seven has already been asked to make herself available for consultations about these technologies. I understand Harry Kim has been, too. No word on anyone asking Tom or B'Elanna about them - yet._ _Once decisions about their future have been made (positive ones, I'm sure),_ _I suspect they will be._

 _I'm scheduled for debriefings with Starfleet and Academy personnel later today. Seven has already been interviewed several times. While she believes she'll have to tolerate a few more before her "inquisition is over," she thinks I'll be released this afternoon once mine are finished. If she's right, I'll be free to do some sightseeing after that. Lieutenant Barclay has offered to bring Seven and me to the Starfleet Communications Center for a tour. He said he'll also show us around the Academy grounds if we wish. There's a gardener there Reg would like us to meet. He's a "very wise man that's worth getting to know," he said._

 _Aunt Irene wants Seven and me to visit her in Sweden as soon as possible. She says she's leaving up her holiday decorations for us, if we can't get there before the season is over. It's winter and very cold where she lives, but I guess we'll go. She told us the Aurora Borealis has been beautiful this year. I'm looking forward to seeing that._

=/\=

Icheb read over his personal log entry. After a short debate with himself, he decided it was okay to leave it just as he'd dictated it. While mentioning her had made a little nervous, there really wasn't any need to hide Admiral Janeway's involvement anymore. The captain announced she was lifting the prohibition about revealing the temporal aspects of their trip home since, by now, if the Federation Temporal Police of the future didn't want any of this known, the trip through the hub and all their memories of it would have been erased. _Voyager_ would be in the Delta Quadrant, still traveling towards "home," with no end of their journey in sight.

=/\=

As Seven had predicted, Icheb was allowed to take Shore Leave after his official debriefing interviews were over. The official ones went far deeper into the details than he'd expected, since he was only a cadet. They all wanted to know how he'd come up with the "anti-assimilation serum." Icheb had to gently correct them in this perception. "The neurolytic pathogen doesn't really prevent the assimilation process from taking place. It halts it midway, however, when it disrupts the nervous system of the assimilating drone and spreads from there."

"That qualifies as anti-assimilation to me, Cadet," Captain Murtagh countered. "The result is the exactly the same." Icheb decided he would not correct him further, since the one who had the neurolytic pathogen in his or her body would still die. He did correct Admiral Kempson of Starfleet Medical when he expressed the same sentiment as Captain Murtagh during his Academy placement interviews, which followed the debriefing sessions. The admiral accepted Icheb's explanation. He also suggested Icheb might wish to follow the medical sciences track at the Academy. He said Icheb had too much potential as a physician to be "wasted" in another Science track, let alone in Command or Engineering. Icheb thanked Admiral Kempton very politely and said he would take his suggestion "under advisement."

Rear Admiral Marja Dombroski interrogated him on his knowledge of Borg engineering systems. He admitted that since he was expelled from the maturation chamber before his indoctrination as a Borg was complete, his knowledge was quite limited in comparison to Seven's. After he'd answered her questions for over an hour, the admiral shook her head and remarked, "If that's what you call limited knowledge, I'm really looking forward to my interview with Seven of Nine tomorrow."

Professor Reagan evaluated Icheb's proficiency in Stellar Cartography, a subject which Icheb was very comfortable in discussing, thanks to his many shifts in Astrometrics. When Icheb described how he'd determined a high-resolution gravimetric sensor array might detect neutrino emission fluxes, which could lead them to wormholes that had, eventually, become the path home, Professor Reagan praised Icheb. He confided that Thomas Paris had been one of his students at the Academy, and Icheb's abilities "dwarfed" Mr. Paris's. "Didn't Tom do well in your class?" Icheb asked, a little taken aback, knowing how much Tom knew about the subject.

"To the contrary, in my class, Cadet Paris actually paid attention. He was committed to learning the material. Many instructors complained about how he would do just enough to slide by in their subjects, but he was always - forgive the pun - one of my 'stellar' students. I'm complimenting you when I compare your level of knowledge to his. You have a very bright future, young man!"

Several other instructors spoke to him in a group, reviewing Commander Tuvok's records of his course work so far. While the group said they were unable to confirm they'd take his tutor's recommendation to place Icheb with the second year cadets, it appeared "very reasonable one."

By the time this last interview was over, it was almost 2100 hours. All Icheb wanted to do was ingest a quick meal and hit his bunk for a long nap, or even an early bedtime. Seven had been correct in assuming she would have another interview the next day, but she gave permission for Lieutenant Barclay to take Icheb on the tour he'd been promised, even though she couldn't accompany them.

While Icheb enjoyed seeing the Project Pathfinder headquarters and touring the Academy buildings, he had to admit that meeting the head gardener, Boothby, was the highlight of his day. Boothby asked him all sorts of interesting questions that really made him think, even more than he had the previous day during some of the interviews by the Academy staff. At the end, he told Icheb, "I have a hunch we'll be speaking with each other fairly often, Cadet. Picking your brains is very entertaining. I hope you get something out of it, too!" Icheb laughed and said, politely, that he was sure he would.

When they walked away from Boothby, Reg told Icheb, "I'll b-bet you will talk to Boothby a lot, Cadet. He isn't easily impressed. I can't remember him taking that much time talking with me as he just did with you - and on your first meeting! He likes you, Icheb. You should b-be honored."

=/\=


	46. Letter from Kathryn Janeway (version 1)

=/\=

After his tour with Reg was over, Icheb transported back up to _Voyager_ and found an envelope resting on his bunk, with "For Icheb, to be opened after _Voyager_ reaches Earth orbit" written on the front in ink. He opened it and read it immediately. Once he'd finished, he realized why the letter had been handwritten: the one who wrote it hadn't wanted any evidence of what she had to say left in the ship's computer. She'd had no way to know this precaution would be unnecessary by the time Icheb received it.

* * *

 _54980.1 (or thereabouts-I'm still a little fuzzy about current stardates)_

 _My dear Icheb,_

 _If you're reading this, you must have gotten home safely through the hub. Or, at the very least, your Voyager took a different path than mine did all of those years ago, in my (hopefully) extinguished timeline. Too many of my people died in the sixteen years we slogged through the Delta Quadrant in our quest to reach the place you are now. Twenty-two of you lost your lives, needlessly, as far as I'm concerned. If I'd chosen to go through the hub in my own Voyager, I believe all of you would have survived._

 _Since I became the Sacrificial Lamb myself, I can tell you that I did it for my entire crew, but there were some "special cases."_

 _In my timeline, Seven and Chakotay married. They had no children together. Seven's assimilation had put paid to that possibility. She didn't know this until after the marriage, when she discovered she was unable to carry a child to term. (Nanoprobes can be vicious little things. You should be glad you're a young man. They don't interfere with the production of sperm.) She'd adopted you before her marriage, however, so she assured me she was content because she already had a son. Chakotay never went through a formal process to adopt you; but as far as anyone knew, the three of you constituted a very happy family._

 _Three years after the marriage, Seven was mortally wounded during what we'd expected would be a routine away mission. She died in her husband's arms. Chakotay was never the same after he lost her. While I'm sure he cared about you, he seemed unable to show it. For thirteen years, I watched him turn into a shell of the vital man I'd encountered on the Caretaker's station. How I felt about losing the Seven I'd pushed, pulled, and harried into individuality is too painful for me to describe. I won't even try._

 _After this, I became much more of a mentor to you, since the one who had taken you as her son and her widower were both absent, in spirit, if not in body. Yes, you graduated from the Academy as one of the most distinguished "Distant Learner" cadets Starfleet ever enrolled. If you **had** been in the Alpha Quadrant and on campus at that time, you would have delivered the class valedictory speech. _

_Not quite two years after you attained the rank of ensign, we again encountered the Borg. Three massive cubes were on our tail. Any moment they would catch us. Every one of us would have been assimilated. You stepped forward and gave a speech very much like the one you gave me the other day in the Ready Room, about how your new and improved version of the pathogen your parents had inserted into your DNA could protect us. How you were born to do this; and this time, you were offering yourself up as the Sacrificial Lamb because you wanted to be, not because anyone else had thrust you into the role without your knowledge or permission._

 _I let you go. All three cubes were destroyed. Afterwards, as we proceeded on our path homeward, we found several debris fields which we determined were what remained of other Borg vessels that had also been destroyed through the transmittal of the pathogen via their vinicula, just as you'd postulated. The effects did not travel to any Borg ships far distant from Voyager's position when you made your sacrifice, however. The Queen must have recognized the danger quickly enough to contain her losses. The Borg Queen and her Collective continued to exist, frustrated by what had occurred, but still very much a threat to the entire galaxy._

 _We made it home eventually, surviving several more battles with the Borg before doing so. Many of the papers you wrote for Tuvok when you were his student contained ideas we utilized to develop our defenses. We only discovered this material after your death. Once Tuvok's deterioration had progressed to the point where I had to name Lieutenant Ayala as Chief of Security, we discovered your coursework in Tuvok's files. He was already suffering the effects of this serious illness as of the time I chose to visit your Voyager. That's why your captain was so surprised by the progress of your "tinkering." Tuvok had forgotten to tell her what you'd showed him. In my time stream, I also never found out about your experiments until you volunteered your life to save us._

 _There was one special friend who was devastated by your loss. Tom had just set up the betting pool about when Samantha would allow her daughter's engagement to be announced when the Borg cubes discovered us. Before you made your offer to me, you cleared it with Naomi. She was a Distant Learner cadet herself by that point, close to graduation, and she understood you were doing it to save her as much as anyone. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one," and all that. She was the "one" in a way, too. Naomi was proud of you, but it took her a very long time to move on. She didn't find her life partner until after our return to the Alpha Quadrant - not that she had much choice on Voyager._

 _By the time I left "my time" to visit the past, to right what I considered my wrongs, Naomi's sons Icheb and Mason had a little sister, Sabrina. They all knew about their "Uncle Icheb," who sacrificed his life so that Naomi could become their mother. I don't know what will happen between the two of you now. Perhaps nothing, since you're back in the Alpha Quadrant and will have no lack of potential partners to choose from._

 _But, thanks in no small part to you, the young officer with a big heart and even greater courage, Admiral Kathryn Janeway became the authority on beating the Borg. When you made that pretty speech to the two Kathryn Janeways in the Ready Room, I remembered something you'd left out this time, something you'd said when you insisted you could destroy the Borg vessels who were after us. When I asked you what affect this serum might have on other cubes (much like your captain asked of you), you replied, "It depends on where it's delivered - and to whom." I never forgot that. For years, I mulled over your response; and eventually, I came to the conclusion that the best place to deliver it would be to the Borg Queen herself. I can't tell you for certain I finally succeeded. I hope I did, and that the Borg are no more. Whether I achieved my goal or not, if you're reading this, you're in a position to help the authority on beating the Borg in your timeline - your Captain Janeway - do just that, if she must continue my work._

 _My very dear boy, I'm glad I got to see you "alive and kicking" once again. Since your life is going to proceed in a very different fashion for you than it did for my Icheb, I decided I might as well tell you what I wouldn't and couldn't say in "Borg Central" that day. The Icheb's history I've just related is fiction now, the tragic account of another young man's life and death; something that might have been. You have your own path to travel and your own love to find. I hope you have a very long and happy life - and one free of the Collective forever. Take care, Icheb._

 _Best wishes always,_

 _Kathryn Janeway (version 1)_

* * *

Once he finished reading the letter, Icheb walked slowly to Borg Central, where the computer told him she was presently located. He might not have gone to her right away if she'd had any company, but Seven was alone, working on her computer console. When he entered Cargo Bay Two, she looked up from her task. From the way her brow crinkled, his face must have shown an emotional reaction to what he'd just read. She shut down the console as he approached. Without further preamble, he waved the letter at Seven. "Did you know about this?"

He handed her the pages and impatiently waited while she read, at a far slower rate than usual. While the fact it was handwritten might have made it a little harder for her to decipher, Icheb doubted that was the reason for her deliberate pace. Seven tapped the letter with her finger a few times after she was finished and finally replied to his question. "I knew some of this. The admiral told me about Chakotay and me when she was trying to convince Captain Janeway to go through the hub. She thought I would intervene on my own behalf. I refused." She hesitated before raising her eyes to his and adding, in a much softer tone of voice, "She failed to share any details about what happened to her Icheb."

"Do you think knowing this is why the captain eventually gave in?"

"To preserve our lives? It may have contributed to her decision," Seven acknowledged. "Knowing your serum had successfully destroyed the three cubes in the admiral's time stream was undoubtedly another. The stealth technology must also have been a factor. The captain expressed disappointment to me when I told her _Voyager's_ current systems were incompatible with that particular technology, and that it could not be installed to hide our entire vessel. Since the technology _was_ able to disguise Admiral Janeway's ship, however, Captain Janeway knew the probability of success was much greater than any attempt we could have made previously, using _Voyager's_ complement of shuttles. After the admiral demanded to be the one to attack the Queen's Unicomplex, I'm sure it was an opportunity too tempting for her to resist."

"How much do you know about the admiral's attack, Seven?"

"Not the ultimate outcome, of course. Only she and the Queen herself experienced that. From the way so many Borg vessels were exploding around us, even those which Commander Tuvok had yet to target with transphasic torpedoes, I'm quite certain the admiral did manage to infect the Borg Queen with your serum. We know the Trans-Warp Hub and its connecting conduits have collapsed for as far as our sensors can reach. How far the destruction may extend beyond our current technology's ability to discern is as yet unknown."

"Naomi said the admiral's little ship 'disappeared' before it entered the hub."

"She planned to utilize its stealth ability to hide her presence long enough to penetrate the Unicomplex. The captain warned her the Queen would probably discover her sooner, rather than later, but the admiral said she would worry about that when it happened. This letter seems to confirm she intended for the Queen to be the one to assimilate her."

Icheb nodded. "Yes, if she did, that would account for such widespread destruction. Do you think the admiral always knew she would give up her life if she came back to this time?"

"I suspect she hoped we would be able to get _Voyager_ to the Alpha Quadrant safely without having to make that particular sacrifice. By the time she left us, however, I believe she actually anticipated having a final confrontation with her nemesis and had accepted her fate. She no longer had the means to return to her own time stream, even if it still existed; it's clear there's no room for a second Kathryn Janeway in this one."

"Do we know the Borg are no more?"

Seven shrugged her shoulders. "No. That remains to be seen."

"Captain Janeway may yet need to become the 'author of the book on how to beat the Borg' in this timeline," Icheb sighed.

"Perhaps. And if she does, both of us must be in a position to support her in that endeavor. Who else knows as much about the Collective as the two of us?"

"Mezoti," Icheb replied quietly.

Seven nodded in response as a shadow crossed her face. Icheb needed no other confirmation that his Norcadi sister was still in Seven's thoughts, as she was in his.

Seven handed the letter back to Icheb. "I would save this. It's a precious document, a part of your history - even if it's a history we hope you'll never experience in this timeline. How do you feel about her revelations concerning the other Icheb?"

He refolded the letter and slipped it back into its envelope as he contemplated his reply. She hadn't needed to tell him to save it; he knew he always would, if only as a memento of the remarkable person who'd written it. After giving Seven's question due consideration, however, Icheb said, "I knew Naomi and I became very close in the admiral's timeline because of an offhand comment she made in this cargo bay - not even a week ago. So much has happened, it's hard to believe how little time has passed since her visit. I don't plan to share this information with anyone else, especially Naomi. About the rest . . . I guess I'm glad she answered my questions. That Icheb graduated from the Academy with high honors, even without the chance to attend any classes in person. I know the rank he'd achieved at the time of his death. I'd prefer not to think about the rest. None of these deaths will happen now. I hope not, anyway."

She put her arms around him then. Wordlessly, they comforted each other, mourning for the people who had been them, in a way, but not them - or they hoped would not be them.

As he walked back to the quarters he shared with Freddie, Icheb reviewed everything he'd learned about a future which had been eradicated through the admiral's sacrifice. While he'd learned a lot from the letter, it hadn't explicitly revealed all he might wish to know about why she came, or, more importantly, why she chose this particular point in time to arrive. The admiral could have returned to _Voyager_ much earlier in the journey. If she had, she could have led them to the nebula with the Trans-Warp Hub, and thus to the Alpha Quadrant, even sooner than they'd discovered it. If she'd arrived before _Voyager_ had been ordered to retrieve Friendship One, she might have prevented Joe Carey's death through her foreknowledge of Verin's duplicity. Perhaps they would never have discovered the Talaxian colony, and Neelix would still have been aboard. Icheb couldn't really be sorry about that aspect, since the Talaxian appeared deliriously happy with Dexa and Brax, but Icheb did miss him.

Icheb now accepted that Tuvok's medical condition was the reason he'd lost to Icheb in the Kal-toh match, which had taken place a mere few days before the initial encounter with the hub. If Tuvok needed treatment, the sooner they returned to the Alpha Quadrant, the better. And if she'd arrived earlier, the relationship between Seven and Chakotay might never have even started. Icheb started to think about how nice it would have been if she'd come before Mezoti left _Voyager._ Then he refused to deliberate on this any further. The ship was still quite far from the nebula at that point. If she'd come that early, the Federation Temporal Police probably _would_ have stopped her from interfering. In fact, maybe she _did_ come earlier, in an altered timeline which none of them knew about because Captain Braxton had stepped in and changed everything back to the way it had been. Icheb smiled briefly as this occurred to him.

It wasn't until Icheb had reached his quarters and stretched out on his bunk that it hit him. While Seven and Chakotay had become serious about each other, their relationship was still very new. The Alpha Quadrant offered other options for love they didn't have while traveling on _Voyager_.

What if Captain Janeway had formed a strong attachment to Commander Chakotay very early in their journey, as the ship's rumor mill insisted? _Voyager's_ proximity to the Trans-Warp Hub might not have been the only reason the admiral timed her visit the way she did. Had she suspected her second in command's and Seven's relationship might never come to full fruition if it were to be disrupted now? If _Voyager_ skipped those dangerous sixteen years, the lives of more than twenty crew members would be spared - Seven's and Icheb's included. Chakotay might never become the "shell of the man she once knew." Was saving him from pain, from this bleakness of soul which had ruined his later life, her true motivation?

All of this could be different for the admiral's younger counterpart. Once Chakotay ceased to be under her command, the protocol of a captain foregoing a personal relationship with her first officer would no longer apply. If it existed, Captain Janeway could express her love for Chakotay if she wished, and he for her - if he were free.

Ah, but there's the rub, as Shakespeare might have put it. Chakotay was very involved with Seven at this point. Icheb had no expectation at all that this would change.

=/\=


	47. The Truth, and Nothing But

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _55001.8_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _My Academy placement interviews are over. Yesterday morning I received written confirmation I will begin classes the third week in January as a second-year cadet. I've received credit for a year and a half of course work, which I didn't expect. I'll need to take two required courses designed for first year cadets, but other than that, I'm "right on schedule" to graduate with the Class of 2380. When I went to Commander Tuvok's quarters to share this with him, he didn't respond to my request to enter. I was a little confused, since I knew he was in there. I tried to contact him through the comm, but he didn't answer me that way, either._

 _When I mentioned this to Tom in the Mess Hall, where we were both having lunch, he told me, "Tuvok isn't seeing anyone right now." I asked him if the commander was ill. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and I clarified that I'd received information indicating the commander was suffering from a serious medical disorder. Tom slowly nodded his head in the affirmative and suggested I send Tuvok a message he could read at his convenience, when he "feels up to it." So, without giving me any real details, Tom confirmed what I'd read in the admiral's letter. Commander Tuvok must be very ill if he's sequestered himself._

 _The Family Court interviewer I met with this morning, Mrs. Yuhl, was cordial but quite tenacious in getting at the truth of my situation. Apparently the documents she'd received from Seven and the captain lacked details about why I "left" Brunal. First, we spoke about how our Collective was discovered by Voyager and rescued just before the Borg cube exploded. She asked me about my "siblings" Azan, Rebi, and Mezoti. Why had I decided to stay on Voyager instead of moving to Wysanti when the others did? I answered her honestly that I considered Voyager my home by then, and I desired a career in Starfleet. Then she wanted to know why I hadn't remained in my parents' care after Captain Janeway returned me to them. I debated whether or not I should answer her the way I did the Antarean ambassador at Tom and B'Elanna's wedding, but I realized that wouldn't satisfy her. A version of that story was apparently in the existing court documents. I suspected it wasn't enough. So, I told her the truth._

 _I stayed as calm as I could as I told her my parents had injected me with a sedative and packed me into a transport, doctored to appear far more technologically advanced than it was, and sent it into the path of a Borg vessel to be assimilated - the second time they'd done this. My parents had assured Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine they wished to make a home for me on our home planet because that's where I belonged. They'd demanded my return, even though I was happy on Voyager. They also lied to Seven about my first assimilation. If not for Mezoti supplying accurate information about how and when that occurred, Voyager would have been too far away to save me when the captain learned the truth - assuming she ever did. The Borg sphere would have already taken my little ship inside it, and I would have been assimilated once again. Voyager arrived just in time to rescue me before they accomplished this._

 _As I continued to describe the events, I could see her becoming more and more agitated by what she heard. When I reported Seven told me my parents had proven themselves to be "unfit," she gasped. Looking down at her PADD, she frantically scrolled through it until she finally said, "None of this is in here! The captain claims they gave you up voluntarily!"_

 _"Well," I responded, "my parents put me inside a ship and sent me into space to be assimilated by the Borg twice. They never expected to see me again after they did it the first time, but on the fourth day after Voyager agreed to their demands and returned me to them, they did it again. I think that would qualify as giving me up 'voluntarily,' don't you?"_

 _I suggested the official ship's logs of the actions Voyager took to free me from the second assimilation should confirm what I'd told her. I contacted the captain and asked her if there was a procedure for the court to follow to obtain the pertinent ship's logs. She replied that if the court subpoenaed the records concerning these particular events, she was certain Starfleet Command would approve their release. I thought about asking her why she'd been so circumspect about the facts in the documents that had already been sent, but I decided to wait and ask her that in private, after this interview was over._

 _Mrs. Yuhl contacted her superiors in San Francisco and requested the subpoena. It didn't take long. By the time she'd finished questioning me if I wanted to be adopted by Seven ("Of Course!" I told her) and why, the log recordings had already been sent down to Mrs. Yuhl's office. She shook her head at the same time she shook my hand to say good-bye. "I've heard a lot of horror stories about abusive parents, but yours has got to be one of the worst ever."_

 _"It's going to be all right though, Mrs. Yuhl. I'll always consider Seven my true parent, no matter what the courts decide. I hope you_ _ **will**_ _let her adopt me, though. The Voyager family has been very good to me, but she's the best mother I could ever have. She knows what it's like to be separated from the Borg's hive mind and live as an individual. She's been helping me adapt ever since she rescued my Borg siblings and me from our cube. Seven's genetics and mine may be that of different species, but we share a common heritage. We once were Borg."_

 _After the social worker left, I went to see the captain in her ready room. I asked her why the documents didn't provide all the details the court needed to make their determination. She sighed and admitted she encouraged Seven to send the entire story, but Seven had been certain they'd been given enough to grant the adoption. Since I was so far away from my parents by this time, it was inconceivable I could return to them. Then I inquired if Starfleet Command had given the captain any problems about releasing the information, since it was likely to include some classified material. She said she'd prepared an edited file of those events at the time Seven first filed the adoption papers, "just in case" she needed to provide more detail to the courts. This file was shared with Starfleet's legal divisions at that time, and they'd cleared it for release long ago, as long as it was required to establish my status in the Federation. That's why she knew to tell Mrs. Yuhl she needed the subpoena to obtain the logs._

 _As I was leaving, the captain admitted, "I may need to provide Seven with a little more instruction in the workings of institutions in the Federation - especially, the judicial ones." She was smiling at me in that quirky way she does sometimes, especially when Seven is the subject. I think she expected Seven's efforts to protect me from the truth would fail. And of course, they already have, since I hacked into those records right after I returned to Voyager._

 _Two hours after I said good-bye to Mrs. Yuhl, she contacted me from her office in downtown San Francisco. My Family Court Hearing is on the docket for next month, exact date and time still to be determined, but she told me she's reviewed the logs. "It's all there; everything you told me is confirmed. There's more you may not even know about. I actually hope you don't! But I'm certain you'll be pleased with the court's decree, once it's issued. I don't think it's premature to say, 'Welcome to the Federation, Cadet Icheb.'"_

=/\=


	48. Family Ties

=/\=

On the day Seven and Icheb were to leave _Voyager_ to visit Aunt Irene in Sweden, Icheb and Seven entered the Mess Hall and saw a group of crew members clustered around one table. All of them were Maquis or Equinox people, which wasn't surprising. With the debriefings concluded, the Starfleet crew had almost all left the ship to visit family, friends, or, if they weren't natives of Earth, to do a little sightseeing denied them while the crew was interrogated over the past several days. Virtually everyone in the Mess Hall was standing around and chatting with Tom, B'Elanna, and Marla, who were sitting at a table with their daughters, trying semi-successfully to ingest their breakfasts.

At a table in close proximity to theirs, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok sat, surrounded by a contingent of Vulcans. Icheb recognized Tuvok's family from images he'd seen on occasion, during visits to his tutor's quarters for lessons or when turning in course work. When the Vulcan officer saw them, he waved his hand slightly, gesturing for Seven and Icheb to approach. "Allow me to introduce my family, who are visiting from Vulcan." Each of the family members nodded in turn as Tuvok identified his wife T'Pel, his daughter Asil, his sons Varith and Elieth, and his eldest son Sek with his wife Varin and their daughter T'Meni.

Icheb became so distracted by Tuvok's daughter Asil, a stunningly beautiful young woman, that all he could manage to respond with was a stuttering, "It is g-good to meet you."

Seven glanced sideways at Icheb, clearly amused by his discomfiture, but all she said was, "You have a lovely family, Commander. I'm pleased to have the opportunity to make their acquaintance." After nodding her head towards each in turn, she turned briskly away and approached the wall with the replicator to order her favorite nutritional supplement breakfast. Icheb followed meekly behind her and ordered the same, even though Chell's offerings smelled quite appetizing this morning.

They chose to sit at the table on the side of Tuvok's family, away from the group admiring the ship's babies. As he sipped his shake, Icheb observed the Vulcans as unobtrusively as he could. While he'd seen Vorik and Tuvok, as well as the former Maquis Vulcan crew woman who kept to herself virtually all of the time, he hadn't seen them interacting often. They weren't family to each other, of course. Seeing Tuvok with his was a revelation. T'Pel, Tuvok's wife, was very dignified, but her movements and the snippets of conversation Icheb caught were much livelier than he'd expected, judging from his studies of Vulcan culture. Asil was even more animated. While Icheb wouldn't go so far as to say she was behaving emotionally, she clearly was much younger and less practiced in controlling her facial expressions than her brothers and sister-in-law seemed to be.

What intrigued him the most, however, was seeing young T'Meni in action. In a conversation he'd had with Tuvok several months ago, Icheb learned she was five years and eight months old, by Federation Standard reckoning. When T'Meni, in a loud voice, asked her mother for permission to visit with Aimee Gilmore and little Miral at the next table, Icheb perceived that Vulcans were not, by nature, grave and emotionally distant, in the way those of other races perceived them. T'Meni wasn't demanding or ill-behaved, but Icheb could see she had a lot to learn about controlling the manner in which she expressed herself. Icheb heard her mother Varin softly admonish T'Meni not to "shout," for example. She did, however grant her daughter permission to visit the other children.

Icheb recalled a conversation he'd had with Tom shortly after Icheb came to live on _Voyager_. Tom told him about the time Tuvok, the Doctor, and Tom were marooned on a planet with a temporal distortion. They thought they'd been lost for months, while only two days had passed for those on _Voyager_. During this stressful period, Tuvok admitted to Tom that as a young man, his family sent him to a monastery for instruction, since he was anything but adept at controlling his emotions at that time. According to Tom, Tuvok used meditation to maintain his balance around the rest of _Voyager's_ crew, since it was comprised primarily of humans, along with several Bajorans, a couple of Bolians, and one very intense Klingon/human hybrid. Members of these species could be quite volatile. They had no need to curb their language or many behaviors which a Vulcan could not display and still be considered culturally appropriate. Icheb had no doubt the presence of his family was a primary reason the lieutenant commander was able to sit so calmly in the Mess Hall while a rowdy group was kibitzing right next to him.

The smell of Chell's breakfast was too enticing for Icheb to ignore for long. His shake simply wasn't enough to satisfy him this morning. Once Seven excused herself to finish her "packing" for Aunt Irene's - puzzling to Icheb, since her meagre wardrobe and a portable regeneration unit were just about all she needed to bring with her - Icheb braved the Bolian chef's effusiveness long enough to choose a more substantial meal. His egg and sausage breakfast disappeared down his gullet and into his stomach much faster than he would have liked, especially once he became aware, through his peripheral vision, of Asil's discreet observation of him as he ate.

When a shadow fell across his almost empty plate, Icheb looked up and saw his tutor regarding him. Gravely, Commander Tuvok said, "Cadet, I wish to congratulate you for attaining advanced placement at the Academy. I was pleased those who evaluated you agreed with my assessment of the level of your accomplishment."

"Thank you, Commander. I believe your guidance and the excellent instruction you provided me are the reasons they did."

Tuvok looked briefly to his left, towards his wife, who had touched him lightly on the elbow, before nodding very slightly and responding, "An instructor is only as successful as his pupil is committed to learn. You have been one of the most promising students I have ever had the privilege of teaching. I must also acknowledge that your . . . sensitivity . . . towards my . . . current state of being . . . is also much appreciated. I apologize for not being able to invite you into my quarters on the day you wished to share your news. I was not well enough for visitors that day. It was gratifying to read your message when I was capable of doing so. Thank you for sending it."

As Icheb stood up, he became aware that Asil had taken a position to her father's right. She didn't touch him in the way her mother did. Icheb became aware that the sons were now gathered around Tuvok as well. They weren't simply waiting for him, Icheb understood, they were supporting him at this difficult time. His illness must be a very serious one for the entire family to have come to him from Vulcan.

Icheb hesitated, because if he said what he was thinking, it meant he was acknowledging Tuvok's illness. He couldn't help himself, however. He said what he'd wanted to admit for several days. "Commander, I realize I didn't truly win our Kal-toh match that day. You should have won."

For the first time since he'd entered the Mess Hall, Icheb thought the Commander's demeanor brightened ever so slightly, as if he truly was pleased to have the truth of the game's outcome to be recognized. He was surprised, therefore, by the lieutenant commander's response. "I disagree. Poor strategy, whatever the root cause, leads to a loss. You merely took advantage of an opening I gave you. If you had made such a move, I would have taken advantage of it to win the game, as I have done with Mr. Kim on numerous occasions. Your victory was real. When I am fully healed, however, I will challenge you to another game. I advise you to hone your skills in the interim. Prepare yourself for a rigorous match by playing Kal-Toh matches with others. I look forward to our future competition."

Icheb smiled. "I accept, Commander. Name the date and the time, and I will answer your challenge."

Tuvok nodded again. Surrounded by his entourage of devoted and attentive family members, he left the Mess Hall. Once the group had passed through the Mess Hall's doors, Icheb glanced over towards the table where Tom, B'Elanna, Marla, and their respective offspring were still seated. Tom winked at him. Icheb smiled back at his friend.

Although Icheb's family of origin had proven to be a bitter disappointment to him, his _Voyager_ family had accepted him with open arms from the very beginning of his stay on the starship. He hoped his Great Aunt Irene would prove to be just as welcoming towards Icheb as those on _Voyager_ had been.

=/\=


	49. In Scandinavia

=/\=

Any trepidation Icheb may have felt prior to the trip to Sweden disappeared as soon as they arrived at the transport station in Malmö. Aunt Irene was there waiting for them. So were her daughter Anna-Christina Olsson, her son Karl Magnus Anderson, and their spouses and children. Seven had told Icheb that her aunt had two grown children, but in their datastream messages, the aunt hadn't mentioned her grandchildren. The crowd that greeted them was as much of a surprise to Seven as it was to Icheb.

Not long after they arrived at Aunt Irene's home, several more cousins of various degrees of relationship appeared, along with an elderly gentleman who turned out to be Seven's maternal grandfather, James McGinty. He had traveled from his home in Brooklyn, New York, to reacquaint himself with his granddaughter. "While you're on Earth, you must come to Brooklyn for a visit. You'll find you have cousins, aunts, and uncles there, too."

When Karl's daughter Anna-Lise asked Icheb what it was like to travel thousands of light years through the Delta Quadrant, Icheb looked around the crowded room and said, "We had a lot of crew mates on the ship. A little like this family, I think." A ripple of laughter traveled throughout the room. From that point on, Icheb felt at home.

Roughly half of the days Seven and Icheb were in Malmö were spent meeting and visiting with members of their extended family. The rest of the time a smaller group of cousins took them sightseeing. On the third day of their visit, they went through a museum in Stockholm. A sailing ship which had been recovered from its watery grave during the twentieth century was a featured exhibit. "In the seventeenth century on Earth, the _Vasa_ was much like your Starfleet starships, only it sailed the seas, not the heavens," Karl Magnus explained. "It was designed for exploration and to provide military actions to protect Sweden. Unfortunately, it sank quite early during its early missions, but as a result, it was well-preserved when it was rediscovered. It allows us to see what the cutting-edge technology of its time was like." Because Icheb was captivated by the _Vasa_ , Karl-Magnus brought him to a museum in Norway several days later, where a resurrected Viking ship, representing an even older technology of oceanic navigation, was on display. Karl-Magnus commented that when the Vikings came to call, "the people who were being raided reacted in the same way the people of Captain James Kirk's day did, prior to the Kitomer Accords, when they saw Klingon attack forces coming at them."

To Icheb's surprise, Aunt Irene's family tended to visit Copenhagen, in Denmark, as frequently as they did their Swedish capital. Copenhagen was closer to Malmö than Stockholm. Since Seven and Icheb's visit took place in January, Copenhagen's famous Tivoli Gardens were closed for the season, but they took the railway across the Öresund Bridge to visit other attractions which were available in the winter.

Icheb had asked to see the Little Mermaid in the harbor. He'd read the Hans Christian Andersen story when he'd explored children's literature, after his return from Quarra. While they went to visit the statue, it was a very brief one. The day was bone-chillingly cold, with a mixture of sleet and freezing rain descending from the sky. Everyone agreed it was preferable to spend their time indoors rather than getting soaked in icy weather. Fortunately, Aunt Irene's daughter Anna-Christina had checked the weather forecast before they left Malmö. Wisely, she'd arranged for the group to visit the Danish Royal Library, to view some illuminated manuscripts from Earth's medieval period. Icheb and Seven were both very impressed by their beauty. Icheb thought the illustrated pages of the Copenhagen Psalter glowed with life, even though the artists which painted them had died some twelve hundred years before.

Afterwards, while eating a late lunch at a smorgasbord restaurant near the library, Icheb silently contemplated whether or not treasures such as the Psalter might have been created by Brunali artists in the distant past. During his very short sojourn on his native planet, he couldn't recall hearing anything about a museum, or even a library, exhibiting items like these. If they _had_ ever existed, like the Brunali children's books he couldn't remember, such things may have been lost as collateral damage when the Borg raided Brunal.

When he asked Seven about this during their train ride back to Malmö, she confirmed the Collective considered a civilization's art unimportant. "When the Borg assimilate a planet, such items are discarded as irrelevant. Perhaps someday an anthropologist on Brunal will unearth scraps of such superb artefacts buried beneath rubble, left behind when the Borg scooped up its technology and people." Their cousins Anna-Christina and her daughter Anna-Lise were sitting nearby on the train, close enough to hear what Seven said. While they didn't comment about her revelation at the time, that evening after dinner, the subject everyone had been avoiding for the first few days of the family reunion finally came out into the open.

Karl-Magnus was the one who hesitantly broached the issue. "You know I am the namesake of my Uncle Magnus, Annika. I understand he . . . he became Borg when you did."

"Yes," Seven said succinctly. Icheb wondered if she would refuse to say anything more about him. He knew what happened to Seven's family was as bitter a subject for her as Icheb's parent's betrayal was to him.

"Annika," Aunt Irene said softly. "If you don't wish to tell us much more about your parents, we'll understand. I do wish to know if they're still Borg. Or do you think they're dead?"

Seven glanced over towards Icheb. His role in the destruction of the Borg was unknown to the general public. He doubted she'd say anything about their supposition that most of the Borg were dead because of the way so many of the vessels which Commander Tuvok had not yet attacked with Admiral Janeway's transphasic torpedoes blew up on their own. However, Seven's answer to her aunt concerned a series of events which took place long before he'd arrived on _Voyager_.

"When the Borg attacked _The Raven_ , both of my parents were assimilated. The Borg also assimilate children, but they do not immediately become functional drones. They're placed in maturation chambers, sometimes for years, to be indoctrinated into the Collective until they are fully developed. Icheb did not remain inside his chamber long enough for this process to be completed. I did." She paused. Her grandfather McGinty was present, listening closely to what Seven had to say. She walked over to him and held out her hand, grasping his before saying, "I never saw my mother again, so I do not know if she survived the assimilation process. Not everyone does." The old man nodded slowly, absorbing this painful truth.

"What about my brother Magnus?" Aunt Irene quickly asked. Icheb realized she'd picked up on the way Seven phrased her response about her mother. Seven would have said she never saw either of her parents again, if that, in fact, had been her experience.

Seven dropped her grandfather's hand and strolled slowly around the room, lost in her thoughts. Everyone remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Once she arrived at the large picture window of the room, Seven gazed pensively into the cold, dark night. Finally, in a soft voice, she recounted what had to be some of her bitterest memories. "When _Voyager_ discovered what was left of _The Raven_ , Commander Tuvok retrieved what he could from its computer before the wreckage fell down a canyon. That planet is more than fifty thousand light years away from here. The region's inhabitants, the B'omar, did not welcome us. We were forced to speed away from their space before we had a complete understanding of what the lieutenant commander's tricorder contained. I believe the captain did skim through its contents, but not in any depth.

"Two years and five months ago, Captain Janeway asked me to study the data for a . . . project we were about to undertake." She sighed before continuing, "I learned my mother had become alarmed and warned my father they should end their study. She felt they'd gained enough data and needed to return to the Alpha Quadrant to share what they'd learned. They were so far away from home by that point, it may have been impossible, but she didn't want to follow the cube they were studying anymore. She thought they'd been lucky the Borg hadn't noticed my father during his visits, even though he'd developed technology to hide his presence from them." She sighed again and looked back at her aunt, who was sitting very still in her armchair. "She was right, but her warning came too late. We were discovered."

At this point, Aunt Irene leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and groaned, "Oh, Magnus, my dearest brother. Always your fatal flaw! The dog with a bone, that was you! Once engaged in a subject, you never seemed to know when enough was enough. There was always that one, last, fascinating tidbit of information you simply _had_ to obtain." When she opened her eyes, she sighed and asked her niece, "When was the last time you saw him?"

"When I saw my father again, he was in the company of the Borg Queen. Papa was a drone, of course. She'd added his 'distinctiveness to her own,' as she always put it. She may have liked having him near her. Or it could have been for my benefit, since she wanted me to come back to the Collective." Icheb could hear the steel return to her voice. "The project I'd undertaken for the captain resulted in my capture. The Queen didn't immediately take away my individuality. I will not share the tasks I agreed to complete for her while in her grasp, when she told me she would assimilate everyone on _Voyager_ unless I cooperated with what she ordered me to do.

"When Captain Janeway and the crew rescued me, they failed to rescue my father. I don't know if they were aware he was one of the drones near us. It might have been impossible, even if they did know. Everything happened so fast, and we had to flee as soon as I was back on _Voyager_. Papa was still connected to the Hive and the Queen, too. He may even have tried to assimilate _Voyager,_ since Commander Tuvok hadn't had an opportunity to make any preparations to prevent such an eventuality.

"We know the vessel that followed us into the conduit when we escaped was destroyed. We believed the Queen and my father were both still on that ship, but the Queen communicated with me again later. She must have survived. He may have also been saved with her. I have no way to know for certain."

Seven looked towards Icheb then. He didn't need to hear a subvocal command to maintain his silence about what had transpired when the Admiral Janeway of the future made her suicide run at the Queen. He couldn't have said anything anyway. After all, they had no concrete knowledge of what had happened at the Unicomplex. All they knew for certain was that the hub and conduits had been destroyed everywhere Starfleet had managed to search. Whether the Queen had been killed, along with the drone who had once been Magnus Hansen, they did not know. He nodded his head ever so slightly, just to let her know he'd understood.

Aunt Irene walked over to her niece, murmuring softly, "Oh, my dear Annika. I'm so, so sorry." She wrapped her arms around Seven and hugged her. Gradually, all of the cousins converged on Seven, with each, in turn, offering condolences. It reminded Icheb of Joe Carey's wake on _Voyager_. And perhaps, in a way, that's exactly what this was: a memorial service for a couple who had, in a sense, died when they'd lost their individuality due to their dedication to scientific research. As for their actual lives, those, too, had probably been erased. While Icheb hoped the truth would eventually be revealed, he felt that sinking feeling in his stomach again. It was unlikely they ever would know.

=/\=

While Icheb and Seven agreed the reunion with Aunt Irene and their new-found family had been a wonderful experience, by the end of the visit, they were more than ready to return to San Francisco. They needed to learn how their crew mates had fared during their absence. Every morning, Icheb had checked into the Terran news services. He reported to Seven they'd missed two "Welcome Home, Voyager" bashes which had taken place while they were in Scandinavia, but he didn't find anything about the fate of the Maquis. Perhaps more importantly, nothing had been said about Captain Ransom, Lieutenant Burke, or the crew of _Equinox_ , either. Icheb saw a few feature stories about Starfleet crew members' reunions with family members, but nothing of substance had been distributed by Starfleet Command Headquarters. Icheb wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. He was eager to get back to find out what was really going on.

Although Aunt Irene invited them to stay with her for as long as they wished, Seven explained they needed to get back as scheduled. "The date for the adoption hearing is set for next week. We must be there in case court representatives have any more questions," Seven explained.

Aunt Irene said she understood. As they were getting ready to leave her home, Seven shared something with her and with Icheb that even he had not heard before. "Aunt Irene, I wish you to know of a decision I've made. Yesterday, I contacted the court in San Francisco and asked them to make a revision in their documents. I will adopt Icheb using the name my parents gave me at birth. When I return to my duties, I will ask everyone to use the name Annika Hansen in official documents and during my work assignments."

Aunt Irene's eyes flooded with tears upon hearing this. "Oh, Annika, now I know you've really come home to us." Hugging them fiercely, she bid farewell to her niece Annika and soon-to-be grand-nephew, Icheb Hansen.

=/\=


	50. Return to San Franscisco

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _55017.8_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb (soon to be, Hansen!)_

 _We've returned from Sweden. The visit was great, but we're both very glad to be home. Chakotay was waiting for us in the transporter room to welcome us back. Seven left the transporter room with him. I went to the quarters I'd shared which, at this point, are just mine. Freddie Bristow is in Seattle with his family. When we last spoke, he's reconsidering his career as a Starfleet officer. "I think I've done enough space traveling in the last seven years to last me a lifetime."_

 _As soon as I tossed my luggage on my bunk, I checked on everyone else to find out who was still around. Forty-seven members of the crew remain on board. Almost all of them are Maquis or Equinox crew members, but the captain hasn't been released yet either. She's enduring interview after interview. By the time she's allowed to finally leave the ship, I think every single admiral, captain, or department head assigned to Starfleet Command Headquarters will have grilled her about everything that happened in the Delta Quadrant. It may take her seven years to relate all they want to know before her inquisitors are satisfied._

 _Tom and B'Elanna are here, but they don't have any duties. They're officially on parental leave, caring for Miral (who's even cuter now than she was when I first saw her). With Voyager in orbit around Earth, there wouldn't be much for Tom to do even if he were at the helm. B'Elanna is waiting for the decision on the Maquis. Tom's free to go off the ship whenever he wants, but he won't leave Voyager anytime soon. He's spending time with his family. Tom's Out-Mate Review Board Hearing took place a few days ago. He's been officially released from the Federation Penal Settlement in New Zealand because of "time served." Since he was "on parole" with Captain Janeway on Voyager for twice as long as his sentence, that's not a surprise!_

 _He hasn't heard whether he'll be able to continue serving in Starfleet, though. His discharge from the service after he failed to admit his fault in the accident at Caldik Prime normally would prevent that. "If I can't stay in, I'll look into revising some of my holodeck programs for publication. If the Doc can be a published author, so can I!" It's likely he'll only continue to be Lieutenant Paris if he receives a pardon expunging his general discharge after Caldik Prime. That may happen if the Maquis are also pardoned for their military actions against the Cardassians. I hope so._

 _Naomi and her mother are visiting Sam's cousin in Toronto. Greskrendtregk hasn't arrived yet from Deep Space Nine. He decided to accept a promotional position and stay there long-term. He assumed that when his wife and daughter returned to this quadrant, Voyager's first stop would be at their last port of call before heading out to the Badlands. He had a little trouble arranging for as much leave time as he desired (hard to imagine, in such a unique situation), but he's expected to arrive on Earth any day now._

 _Commander Tuvok and T'Pel are still in residence, as is their daughter; but his sons and the rest of the family have returned to Vulcan. When I went to visit the Doctor in Sickbay to tell him about our trip to Sweden, Asil was with him. She was describing the work she does with her mother, which is the creation of devices to help those with medical challenges live independently. Asil is_ _ **extremely**_ _pretty - I became a little tongue-tied once again when I first saw her. After we'd spoken together for a few minutes, though, I got over my nervousness and enjoyed our conversation. She's very nice, and just as smart as I would expect any of Tuvok's children to be. When I mentioned my genetic research, she asked me if I would be willing to share a little of it with her. From the wording of her request, it was clear she already knew something about it._

 _We went to the lab adjacent to Sickbay. I showed her my genome, pointing out the alterations my parents had made to it to turn me into a neurolytic pathogen-producing organism. She comprehended the ramifications so quickly, I asked her if she was familiar with my work because she'd performed a mind-meld with her father. She explained she hadn't - yet. She'll have to soon, once he's cleared to return to Vulcan. Since her mind is the most compatible with her father's of anyone in the family, she'll be performing the actual healing procedures. Asil admits she's "not looking forward to it," but she is determined to help him recover._

 _Since she was a little girl, Asil has been able to read her father's surface thoughts, especially when he gets agitated. This is happening more and more frequently. T'Pel can keep him focused and control his distractibility, but Asil is uniquely qualified to provide the actual therapy, under the guidance of monks at a temple dedicated to healing. She said her father has a relatively obscure condition called "fal-tor-voh." It occurs in Vulcans who have suffered brain damage, either through physical injuries or from performing mind melds with those afflicted by very serious psychological disorders. The Doctor wasn't around when she told me that. I'm not sure he would have approved if he was, since he's always so careful to maintain patient confidentiality. However, I know what happened to her father during the Unimatrix Zero incident, and that Dr. Kadan's "therapy" on Quarra was also very damaging to him. Through my study of the ship's logs, I learned of other incidents which may have contributed to this illness. Seven years in the Delta Quadrant was not kind to Commander Tuvok's mental health._

 _Despite the seriousness of our subject, I enjoyed our discussion. Asil told me my work was "fascinating." That's something a Vulcan often says in place of "exciting." We spent a very pleasant hour in the lab, until she had to leave. Her mother contacted her at that point and asked her to stay with her father while T'Pel attended a meeting at Starfleet Medical. After Asil left, the EMH called me into Sickbay to tell him "everything" about the visit to Scandinavia. I did my best. I'm sure he grilled Seven afterwards anyway. Seven's father isn't the only one who insists on learning every last tidbit of a subject that interests him._

 _That reminds me. I asked Seven if she wished me to call her Annika. She told me I could continue to call her Seven if I wished. "You're my son. If you wish to call me Mommy, I won't mind." I told her I thought I might be a little old for that one. After all this time, it will be hard to call her anything other than Seven, so that's what I'll stick with. She's fine with that._

 _We'll be going to court the day after tomorrow. We may not be required to appear in person. If we'd still been traveling in the Delta Quadrant, the hearing would have gone on without us. However, I think I'd like to observe the process. Mrs. Yuhl told us we're welcome to attend, so both of us will be there. I'm excited. Or maybe I'm "fascinated."_

 _I think it sounds better when Asil says it._

=/\=

 _Personal Log Addendum_

 _While I was visiting with Tom and B'Elanna, I finally had a chance to ask him why he was so moved during the captain's speech, when she told us about the parade and the rest of the activities scheduled for our first days back. He knew what I was asking him about. When the captain suggested we could share an anecdote about someone who wasn't with us anymore, when an outsider got too pushy about something we didn't feel like talking about, he thought of all of our lost ones, especially, Joe Carey. "And I thought of one other person, too. Lieutenant Stadi died at her post when the Caretaker pulled Voyager into the Delta Quadrant. I became Voyager's chief helmsman because she was gone. Stadi was Betazoid. She had the sort of captain-to-helmsman rapport that's hard for a mere human to match. She was a nice person, too. I wouldn't be where I am now if she'd survived, but I wish she had. You know what I mean?"_

 _B'Elanna remarked, "I'm sure you would have been on her staff, just not the main guy. Hey, maybe you'd have married her instead of me!"_

 _"NEVER!" Tom retorted, putting his arm around her and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. And then he leaned over towards me and said, in what I've heard is called a stage whisper, "I couldn't! She'd have been my boss!" B'Elanna laughed out loud when she heard that, but it made me think of the captain's situation in the Delta Quadrant with Commander Chakotay. She was his boss, too. And neither of them ever forgot it, either._

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _55019.8_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb (Hansen, as of tomorrow!)_

 _Seven and I were gathering some possessions I'd left behind in Borg Central when I moved in with Freddie. After the court hearing tomorrow, I'll move to a dorm room on the Academy campus. The new semester starts next Monday. While I was there, Marla and Noah came into Cargo Bay Two to "borrow" a few crates in which to pack their belongings. "Are you being allowed to leave Voyager?" I asked Noah._

 _"You could say that," he said. His laughter sounded very bitter._

 _Marla finished his thought. "Our Board of Inquiry hearings are over. There aren't going to be any courts martial for us, but . . ."_

 _The Equinox people were told they would not face trials as long as they all resigned immediately from Starfleet. Because of pressure from the Ransom and Burke families to obtain citations for "bravery and services to the Federation" for the deceased captain and executive officer (Noah and the others get sick even thinking about that possibility), the Admiralty has permanently classified the ship and its missions top secret. If the Five are court martialed, everything that happened on "that ship," including the murder of aliens to turn them into fuel, is bound to get out. This would be a major public relations disaster for Starfleet, which is still reeling from some of the events which occurred during the Dominion War. The Five were told if they resigned, they would receive the same benefits the rest of the Starfleet crew will receive, according to the length of time they'd served and the rank achieved as of this date (which means Marla and Noah would be considered crewmen, not ensigns, the rank they'd both held on Equinox). They won't receive dishonorable discharges, but they can't be honest about the true reason they left Starfleet to anyone. Ever. And we can't say anything about this to anyone, either. If the secret is exposed, the Five could still face murder charges because, as Tom later explained to me, there's no statute of limitations on that crime._

 _The captain announced the decision this evening to everyone still in residence on Voyager. The crew who are currently off ship will receive personal visits from security staff people, who will explain everything to them, too. Marla didn't seem very upset. "It'll work out okay," she said. "I think I'd prefer to live on Earth from now on anyway." Marla and Aimee will stay with Marla's sister until she finds a job and things settle down for them. Noah agreed it was the best they could hope for, since none of them will be imprisoned. Noah also plans to stay on Earth. Without a conviction on his record, he'll qualify for jobs which require a security clearance. Jim Morrow, Brian Sofin, and Angelo Tessoni have all said they plan to ship out on commercial vehicles. They'll be "employable," too, which they might not be as convicted felons, even if their sentences were commuted to "time served," like Tom's was._

 _All of them will leave the ship today as ordered. We may still see them at some of the welcome home celebrations planned for the crew, however. When I spoke to Tom about it afterwards, he said, rather cynically, "They'll be allowed to come to the parties, if only to maintain the fiction their resignations were voluntary. Sorry, but it sucks, big time."_

 _He's right. It does._

 _I wonder if this indicates what the "disposition" of the Maquis crew will be as well. I hope not._

=/\=


	51. Welcome to the Academy, Cadet Icheb

=/\=

"Cadet Icheb Hansen, reporting for room assignment, sir."

The "sir" in question was a second year cadet waiting for him in the vestibule of Archer Hall, the building which would serve as Icheb's residence for the remainder of this academic year. She nodded her head to acknowledge his presence in that slightly stiff way Icheb noticed was virtually universal when one was introduced to a Vulcan. "You may refer to me by my given name Verit, Cadet Hansen. You are to be one of my suitemates. Follow me."

She held out her hand and relieved Icheb of the small duffel bag containing his study PADDs and miscellaneous paraphernalia. Inside the elevator, she activated the controls to carry them up to the seventh floor of the dormitory. Upon exiting the lift, they walked down a corridor decorated in the grey color scheme so familiar to Icheb from his days on _Voyager_. Halfway down the hallway, she stopped in front of a doorway and pointed to a metal plate on its surface. Below the names "Sanchez, Tana, and Verit," he saw a slightly shinier piece with "Hansen" etched into it. After Icheb pressed his hand on the touchpad beneath the nameplate, the door swished open, allowing them entry into a spacious room brightly lit by the bank of floor-to-ceiling windows forming its exterior wall.

He gestured for Verit to walk through the doorway before him. He set his bags as soon as he'd stepped inside the door, and it swished closed behind him. "There is no need for a male cadet to wait for a female one to enter a room at the Academy, Cadet Hansen."

While Icheb briefly considered explaining he'd merely wanted to avoid blocking her entrance if his bags got stuck in the doorway, he thought better of it. Even though it happened to be the truth, it sounded like a feeble excuse. Wordlessly accepting her reproof, Icheb looked away from her and examined his surroundings more closely. The space was comfortably furnished by a good-sized table with six chairs, two double desks, a couple of easy chairs, and a couch which looked exactly like the ones in the lounge area of _Voyager's_ mess hall. _Standard Starfleet issue_ , Icheb thought with amusement. The center of each side wall was pierced by a small alcove, which was flanked on either side by square pieces of molding surrounding an empty glass pane. Icheb wondered if the occupants were allowed to post some sort of artwork inside the molding.

His companion interrupted Icheb's train of thought. "Your bed chamber is through that doorway, to the left. Cadet Austin Sanchez occupies the room to the right. As he will remind you often, he comes from the Great State of Texas, which is located along the Gulf Coast of this continent. Our other suitemate is Cadet Tana Farys. She is Bajoran. Are you familiar with the naming conventions of that world?"

"I am, Cadet Verit. I lived with Bajorans on _Voyager_."

"Good. She will inform you if she wishes to be addressed as Cadet Tana, or simply by her given name of Farys. And you may omit the term 'cadet' when addressing me, Cadet Hansen."

"In that case, please call me Icheb. I'm used to it. Until recently, I had no other designation."

She regarded him intently for a moment. Icheb returned her scrutiny, since he really didn't know what else to say anyway. Verit was pretty, although Icheb didn't think she was as beautiful as Asil. If she turned out to be as easy to speak with as Asil, however, Icheb thought they could become friends. Her coloring was similar to Ensign Vorik's, with very pale skin, inky black eyes, and very dark hair, cut short, with straight bangs over her eyebrows. Once their mutual inspection ended, Verit nodded coolly to Icheb and walked towards one of the desks. Taking a seat, she picked up the PADD lying there and began to read.

As Icheb dragged the bags he'd brought with him through the door she'd indicated, he decided she must know a lot more about his history than he did about hers. That wasn't surprising. A few feature stories had been published about the young Brunali male, rescued from the Borg by the crew of _Voyager,_ who had arrived on that ship when it returned triumphantly to Earth.

When Icheb saw his bedchamber for the first time, he was strongly reminded of _Voyager's_ crew quarters. A narrow bunk was positioned along the short side of the room. Along the far side, he saw a built-in dresser, a closet, and a small sink. Another door, to the right of the sink, led into a sanitary cubicle and the bathing room he knew he was to share with Cadet Sanchez. He noticed the twin of the molding-flanked glass panel on his left. When he played with a small knob next to it, he saw that it was, in fact, a window that opened onto the living area. The knob controlled its opacity. He was able to clear his view completely, to see Verit reading at the desk, or leave it blank, the way it was on its other side. With another setting, he could view an imitation star field, either stationary, or moving, as if he were standing inside a starship. In the corner next to the window, a small desk and matching chair were positioned, with a computer terminal on the desk's surface. A bank of shelves designed to hold small objects such as PADDs rose on the wall above the desk.

It was a small but efficient living space. He approved of its design for another reason. Anyone leaving this chamber for a first assignment on a space-going vessel such as _Voyager_ would be accustomed to the type of quarters a junior officer was likely to be provided on their new ship.

It didn't take very long for Icheb to put everything he had away. He hadn't acquired much in the way of civilian-type clothing as of yet. In fact, he possessed far more PADDs, with research data stored inside them, than anything else. On the center of the shelf above the one holding his collection of PADDs, Icheb carefully placed the paper book Aunt Irene had just sent to him. Her daughter had told her how much Icheb had admired the original when he was given the privilege of viewing it at the Danish Royal Library. Inside the flyleaf of this reproduction of the Copenhagen Psalter, Aunt Irene had written:

 _Dearest Icheb. Welcome to the Hansen family! I hope you'll keep this book as a memento of your first visit to your cousins in Scandinavia. Come back to see us whenever you can._

 _Love always, Aunt Irene._

=/\=

If Icheb thought the rest of their suitemates would be as calm and self-contained as Verit, he quickly found he was mistaken. Cadet Tana Farys reminded him of a more self-confident Tal Celes, with a strong but bubbly personality. Verit's comment that Cadet Austin Sanchez would remind everyone that he was from the Great State of Texas "often" turned out to be very accurate. He was also extremely friendly and generous towards his suitemates, as well as just about everyone else he met. On the first night, Austin threw a "welcome, Icheb" party for what he described as his closest friends. Twenty other cadets showed up.

Before arriving on campus, Icheb decided that if asked about why he came back to live on _Voyager_ after his brief return to Brunal, he would provide the same explanation he had given to the Antarean Ambassador O'Zaal, about having become "used to living in space." He never did get the chance to tell that story before the truth came out. While the four suitemates were having supper, before the party guests were due to arrive, Austin and Farys asked him about his experiences as a Borg. "How come you were assimilated, but you're biological parents weren't?" Austin asked.

Icheb tried to recall the details of the story Leucon had foisted upon Seven, only to discover he didn't remember enough of them for that explanation to make sense. When he mentioned being alone in a small transport vessel when he was captured, Farys said she didn't understand how he happened to be alone. "Where were you going? If your ship was so small, you couldn't have been on a trading mission, could you?"

He looked over at Verit. While she hasn't asked him any questions, her eyes were boring into his in the same way Commander Tuvok's always had whenever Icheb had flubbed a response to a question during their tutoring sessions. Farys' befuddlement and Austin's obvious disbelief were even more evident than the Vulcan cadet's silent chastisement.

Icheb gave up and told them the real story. All of it, from the beginning, when he first woke up, alone on a Borg cube with no memory of his past life, having to cope with a thousand Borg corpses by himself; to when the captain transported him back onto _Voyager_ when the Borg were going to assimilate him for the second time.

"How could your parents do something like that to you?" Farys cried out, when Icheb paused in his recitation.

Icheb sighed before answering her. "I've turned this over and over in my mind so many times. I've talked it over with Seven, who was also rescued from the Borg and is now my mother, and with Lieutenant Paris, the chief helmsman of _Voyager_. My adoptive mother Seven is very bitter about what they did to me - almost as bitter as she is towards her parents for deliberately putting her in the path of the Borg. Mr. Paris has been more helpful. He's tried to provide some perspective on this. Honestly, it's hard for me to think about, but sometimes I can't stop myself. Having seen what the Borg did to my native planet, the only answer I have is that they were so desperate, they'd try anything, even sacrificing one of their children, to stop the Borg from raiding them anymore."

"But why did your parents sacrifice you in particular?" Farys asked.

"I can't answer that, Farys. When they were about to send me to the Borg for the second time, Yifay said me I was important to them, but I didn't know why. But then she injected me with a sedative and put me to sleep without telling me the reason. It's possible I wasn't the only Brunali child given this treatment. Maybe a lot of us were, but my parents were the ones brave enough to actually send me into the path of a Borg cube."

Austin snorted. "Brave? I don't think so, sending their child to be assimilated like that. If they'd made that change in their own DNA and sent _themselves_ to the Borg to be assimilated, maybe _then_ I'd agree with you about their bravery."

"I once asked Mr. Paris about why they simply didn't give everyone on the planet this mutation, so if any of them were assimilated, the Borg would die from it. He said if the Borg figured out the source of the pathogen, they might simply go to Brunal and blow the planet and all its inhabitants to smithereens so it couldn't happen again. That might be why."

Verit, who up to now had remained silent throughout Icheb's story, said quietly, "Sacrificing one person instead of the many is logical, but to do it secretly, without even informing the one sacrificed or allowing him or her to choose to do this - that is illogical. You do not appear to condemn your parents for doing this to you without your knowledge. Is that, in fact, true?"

Icheb smiled up at her. "It depends on the day of the week, I guess. Sometimes I'm very bitter about all of it. At other times, I'm glad Seven's parents didn't protect her, either, so she was on _Voyager_ when my Children's Collective needed to be saved." He shook his head. "I had another story to tell you that wasn't exactly a lie, but it left out so much, it was as good as one. You can see how long it's taken me to tell you the story, and it's just about as painful for you to hear it as it is for me to tell it. I'd appreciate it if you'd just keep this between the four of us. It may all come out eventually, but it would be nice to try and forget it while I'm here with you."

They all murmured their agreement. When the crowd started arriving, Austin took on the role of host, introducing Icheb to all of his friends, keeping the party lively - and the conversation superficial. The subject of how Icheb became Borg never seemed to come up.

At the end of the evening, when the last of the boisterous guests had slipped away to go to their own rooms for the rest of the night, and after Farys and Austin had retreated to their own bedchambers, Icheb sighed in relief and sat down on the couch next to Verit. She leaned over and said softly in his ear, "It is most gratifying to find another suitemate who is as willing to listen to others as he is to express himself in a loud and raucous manner."

"Have I expressed myself in a loud and raucous manner?"

"No, you have not. It is refreshing. The suitemate you replaced was Andorian. Thirin was very intelligent and capable, but his manner of stating opinions was often - loud and raucous."

"What happened to this Thirin?"

"He decided Starfleet wasn't for him after all. He went home in the middle of the last semester. I trust you will not come to a similar conclusion."

"Verit, I lived on _Voyager_ for a year and a half. All of my closest friends were on that ship. Once I was accepted as a cadet, I served in many capacities, almost as many as I would have if I had actually been one of its assigned crew. I learned then that a career in Starfleet was my destiny."

"Then I truly welcome you to Starfleet Academy, Cadet Icheb. As the Klingons say, may your career be glorious."

=/\=


	52. The Next Stages

=/\=

The day after Icheb's move into Archer Hall, Icheb established his final schedule for the spring and summer sessions. One requirement he had already fulfilled was the sophomore field study tour on a starship or a space station. The letter sent to him placing him with the second year cadets confirmed this. "Your diverse duties on _USS Voyager_ since you were formally accepted as a cadet has provided you with the wide range of practical experiences which fulfills the program criteria." The list of other classes which were to be waived included Stellar Cartography, the freshman classes in Astrophysics and Engineering required of those planning to major in those fields, Basic Warp Theory and Design, and Elementary Temporal Mechanics. Commander Tuvok's physical training was also deemed sufficient for Icheb to move directly into the first level of Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat, rather than needing to take a semester devoted to physical preparation. When Icheb thought about Tom's love for Sandrine's and Marseilles, the city in which he spent that semester, Icheb wouldn't have minded spending time at that campus.

In addition to the two freshman classes he needed to take, Transporter Theory and Biochemistry I, Icheb elected to begin the introductory course in Medicine he needed for certification as a field medic. His choices of classes for the rest of his schedule, however, would depend largely upon the major he would declare. This was an important, yet difficult decision. While he had enjoyed working in Engineering with B'Elanna's staff, the sciences were his true passion. He accepted that his experiences with Seven in Astrometrics, as well as his friendship with Tom Paris, influenced him, but how he came to make this choice was immaterial. Icheb was confident this was the track he was meant to pursue.

After he'd made his decision and officially declared Astrophysics as his major, Professor Chapman, the head of the Engineering Department, passed him in the hallway and shook his head sadly. Icheb assured him that since he was "interested in becoming well-versed in many subjects," he'd take as many electives as he could in Professor Chapman's discipline.

Icheb decided he needed to speak with Admiral Kempton about his decision, too. He'd been eager for Icheb to become a physician, which would have involved an additional year of study at Starfleet Medical Academy after graduation from the undergraduate Starfleet program. Icheb contacted the admiral's secretary and asked for an appointment. The secretary told Icheb to "come over now because the admiral is eager to hear what major you've chosen." Icheb decided he might as well go over because waiting wouldn't make it any easier.

The admiral expressed great disappointment when Icheb told him he'd chosen Astrophysics. After Icheb explained he planned on going for field medic certification, however, the admrial was somewhat mollified. Seeing this, Icheb was encouraged to ask if he could continue doing some genetics research "on the side," as independent study. Admiral Kempton's demeanor brightened immediately. "My boy, we're planning a seminar in the subject for advanced students for the fall semester. From your accomplishments in that field, I'm happy to invite you to join the group. I'm sure many of our students would benefit from your participation, given your vast practical experience in genetic resequencing."

At last, Icheb was able to visit Professor Reagan in his office. "Congratulations on making a very wise choice, young man!" But when the professor saw how many classes Icheb planned to take in the other disciplines, he groused, good-naturedly, "I see I'm going to have to share you with my colleagues, Cadet!"

Icheb shrugged his shoulders, smiling, as he replied, "I have a wide range of interests, Professor. I hope I won't prove to be a disappointment to you in Astrophysics."

Professor Reagan laughed, "I have no concerns about that at all, Cadet. I'm glad I'll have the pleasure of seeing you in my classes. When you're choosing your schedule though, remember, your _major_ field of study is mine!"

=/\=

The same week Icheb began classes, Seven and the newly-minted (finally!) Lieutenant j.g. Harry Kim began to work as co-leaders on the Delta Flyer Project. The admirals who had inspected the _Delta Flyer II_ were greatly impressed by its maneuverability and durability. As one rear admiral noted, "If the prototype held up under Borg bombardment as long as reported, I'd feel a lot safer traveling in one of those than the ones we've been flying."

Seven pointedly noted that "The _Delta Flyer's_ primary creators were Lieutenant Paris and Lieutenant Torres. They should be the ones in charge now."

Since both were still residing on _Voyager_ , waiting for the fate of the Maquis to be announced, the Research and Development people were forced to admit they could not name them to lead the project - yet. When Seven explained her involvement to Icheb during their regular comm chat that evening, she told him she'd accept the position on one condition. _:::If the Maquis are cleared of the charges against them, and if Lieutenants Paris and Torres are reinstated, I must be allowed to step down in favor of the two of them leading the project. Lieutenant Kim insisted on the same condition of employment. I don't believe the R &D personnel were truly upset with us. They know who the best-qualified people are to lead the group.:::_

"You'll do a great job, Seven, but. . . " Icheb paused, since he wasn't sure how to put the rest.

Seven correctly interpreted the reason for his hesitation and rescued him. _:::I trust they will become my superiors on the project very shortly. In the meantime, we will initiate work on the project. I've already nominated Lieutenant Kim to be our liaison with the R &D personnel and to be the one to report on our progress. He's shown the ability to deal diplomatically with such people. I have not. I doubt I ever shall.:::_

Icheb smiled but said nothing. He had to agree with her assessment of the situation. Icheb had no trouble visualizing the way she "nominated" Harry to be the liaison, either. Seven was fantastically talented and fiercely dedicated to the efficient completion of all of her assigned tasks. All, that is, except one. Tactfully dealing with authority figures was the one thing she'd never done well. In fact, Seven was terrible at it.

At one time, Icheb had suggested they take Academy courses together so she could become an officer herself. She'd been quite emphatic in her refusal. Icheb had to admit that Seven's current position of civilian consultant was a much better fit.

 _And good luck, Harry_ , Icheb thought wryly. _You'll need it._

=/\=


	53. A Message from the Ambassador

=/\=

Several days later, Lieutenant Barclay invited Seven and Harry Kim to visit the Starfleet Communications Center, where Project Pathfinder and Project Watson were housed, so they could visit with Neelix during the Project Watson communication window. Seven asked if Icheb could come, too. Lieutenant Barclay said he'd be delighted to clear it with Admiral Paris.

Icheb was relieved when he discovered the timing would work out perfectly for him. He'd finish his last class that morning, go on the visit, have lunch, and be able to return to campus for his final two classes of the day. Icheb was eager to see Seven, since it would be the first time Icheb would have the chance to visit with her in person since his move to Archer Hall. He'd spoken with her over the comm system almost every day, but that wasn't the same thing as spending time with her in person. Once their eleven minute visit with Neelix was concluded, she promised they'd go to a nice restaurant. Harry had also invited Reg Barclay to join them.

Neither Seven nor Harry had had an opportunity to visit the Communications Center before this. On the day Lieutenant Barclay brought him to see the Academy gardener, Boothby, Icheb had been given the "grand tour." The guard at the reception area desk remembered Icheb from that other day, however, and she contacted Lieutenant Barclay to come down to meet his visitors even before Harry identified which staff person they'd come to see. Seven and Harry both claimed a connection to Pathfinder and this building, since some suggestions the two had made on fine tuning the way the datastream was bounced back and forth to the Delta Quadrant had led to Project Watson, making daily, real time contact with _Voyager_ possible.

"Welcome, welcome!" Lieutenant Barclay said enthusiastically, as the trio exited the turbolift on the Project Pathfinder floor. "We'll be able to make contact with Talax II in just thirty-six minutes. Let me bring you around on that tour I promised you, before it's time for our interstellar chat with Neelix."

Icheb tagged along, even though Mr. Barclay had taken him on the tour a few weeks ago. Reg had barely had a chance to begin his tour guide spiel when Admiral Paris signaled to the group. "It's good to see you all again. Please, come into my office. I'd like to get your opinion about something. Reg, make sure the door is completely shut behind you once you're all inside."

Icheb was the first one through the door. While everyone shuffled inside the admiral's office, he glanced around at his surroundings and noticed a shelf above the admiral's desk, with several framed images resting upon it. One was of Mrs. Paris in a formal evening gown, looking quite glamorous. Pictures of the admiral's two daughters and their husbands, as well as one of Tom, B'Elanna, and little Miral, were also part of the grouping.

There was one framed picture on the admiral's desk of a very young Thomas E. Paris, dressed in his cadet uniform. Icheb had a feeling that one had been sitting on the admiral's desk for many years, possibly since he'd first learned his son had been reported lost in the Badlands. In fact, that image of Tom, taken in happier days, may have been placed on the admiral's desk years before Tom walked the decks of _Voyager_ for the first time. As Icheb settled into one of the seats around the conference table in the admiral's office, he remembered a conversation he'd had after Icheb discovered his parents' duplicity. Tom had told him that no one, even parents, are perfect. Icheb had always thought the admiral had a stern manner, but seeing that picture brought it all home to Icheb. Even when they were butting heads all the time during Tom's childhood and adolescence, Owen Paris had always loved his son.

Once the admiral took his own seat, he addressed the group. "Thank you all for consenting to this change in your itinerary, but something important has come up. Since it pertains to a message Ambassador Neelix sent me, I wanted to show it to all of you before your chat with Ambassador Neelix takes place. As you'll see, Neelix recommended we not discuss this openly during the Project Watson chat. I concur with his recommendation. The message came yesterday, through the compressed datastream transmission. Lieutenant Barclay advised him of your planned visit a few days ago. I suspect that accounts for Neelix's timing. He wants me to share it with you."

The admiral activated the viewscreen on his wall, and Neelix 's message appeared.

 _:::Admiral Paris, Lieutenant Barclay, I wanted to alert you to what I believe is vital information I've obtained from some of our trading partners. I'm sending it to you this way, rather than during our normal communications window, because I don't want to take up a great deal of our Project Watson communication time giving you this report. I also believe it's better to limit the number of people who'll have access to this information, until the time you feel comfortable enough with its veracity to wish to release it._

 _:::Several captains in this sector have reported finding very large debris fields. They appear to be comprised of the remains of Borg vessels. From the estimated mass of the fragments, some may be what's left of very large cubes. The size of one field suggests it is the remains of a Class 4 Tactical Cube, like the one Captain Janeway, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok, and Lieutenant Torres invaded when that Unimatrix Zero matter came up. No one has reported hearing of any attacks to account for the destruction. They haven't found any living drones in these debris fields, either, but several small Borg scout ships and spheres have been observed in this area. None of the smaller ships have made any aggressive moves. In fact, one Borg scout ship contacted a colleague of Captain Nacona's and asked her if he could gain access to a medical facility. He needed to obtain care for several of the drones on his vessel who were gravely ill._

 _:::Now, I know Borg nanoprobes generally cure most drone illnesses. The fact I'm speaking to you right now is a testament to that, since Seven literally brought me back from the dead with nanoprobes she took from her own body to resurrect me. Apparently the nanoprobes of these drones aren't healing the way they should. Another very interesting thing about this contact was the drone speaking with Captain Nacona's friend said he wasn't part of the Collective. He claimed everyone on his scout ship belonged to the Borg Resistance Movement initiated by Captain Janeway during the Unimatrix Zero action. I asked Captain Nacona more about this drone who was speaking with his friend. The drone identified himself as an individual named Sarin. This drone wasn't Captain Korok, the Klingon who helped us retrieve the captain, Tuvok, and B'Elanna. I met him when he came on board to meet with Commander Chakotay, Seven, and Icheb. Captain Nacona said his friend directed Sarin to a planet which has advanced medical facilities . . . and Sarin thanked her! I found that to be as astonishing as anything else Captain Nacona reported._

 _:::We haven't had contact on Talax II with any Borg drones, freed from the Queen's control or otherwise. From the information you shared with me about Voyager's wild trip through the Transwarp Conduit when it reached Earth, it's possible this is evidence that the Borg are in a very bad way. I'm not sure exactly what to think, actually, but I thought you should receive what I had as soon as I'd accumulated sufficient documentation to confirm what these captains have been telling me. The separate file I'm sending you through the datastream contains all the information they've relayed to me in the past week about these fields: their location, composition, density of debris, direction of drift, calculations of mass, etc., along with any other small pieces of data that have come my way._

 _:::I will, of course, share anything else I learn about this situation as soon as it comes to me. Unless you tell me otherwise in a return compressed message, I'll continue to send what I discover to you using this method, and not in an open communication during Project Watson._

 _:::Ambassador Neelix, signing off.:::_

When Neelix's message ended, Admiral Paris checked the chronometer on his wall. "I'd like to discuss this matter with you in some depth, but we only have a few minutes to get to the viewscreen before our connection with him is due to begin. I know you were planned on going to lunch after your chat with our ambassador. Would you mind coming back to my office and ordering lunch to be delivered here? As my guests, of course. Ms. Hansen, Icheb, you're our Borg experts. Your assessment of how accurate his assumptions were about the size of these Borg vessels, judging from the volume of the remains, would be extremely valuable as we consider our response and what to advise Neelix and his partners."

Everyone accepted Admiral Paris' suggestion. As the group trooped out, however, Icheb's disappointment must have showed on his face. He'd been looking forward to having a casual chat with his mother, Harry, and Lieutenant Barclay in a nice restaurant. Even though he was curious to review the data Neelix had sent them, he wasn't in the mood for a working lunch, if for no other reason that he feared this would make him late for his last two classes of the day. As the group walked up the steps to the viewing area, Admiral Paris came beside Icheb and clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Cadet. I'll make sure the next time you have a nice meal planned with your mother, it will be an exceptionally fine one."

That turned out to be an easy promise for the admiral to fulfill. The news Neelix shared during his Project Watson time with them would send Lieutenant Barclay to prepare frantically for a formal dinner party. This wasn't going to be another "Welcome Home, _Voyager_ " bash, either. It was to be a wedding reception.

And, fortunately, Icheb also managed to make it to his last two classes in time.

=/\=


	54. Wedding Party

=/\=

Stardate 55055 was a very happy day for the crew of _Voyager_. Even though the wedding of the Federation Ambassador to the Delta Quadrant and his Dexa had to fit into an eleven minute, seven second Project Watson communication window, the majority of _Voyager's_ crew could attend. Neelix and his bride couldn't be physically present at their own wedding reception dinner, of course, any more than their friends could congratulate them in person; but they were delighted to share their big day with their friends in the Alpha Quadrant in any way they could, considering the distances involved.

Once the ceremony was over, the audience showered the bride and groom with good wishes until the window closed. The festivities continued for several hours, however. Everyone agreed the ceremony, though brief, was beautiful. The reception afterwards was appreciated by _Voyager's_ crew for another reason. As Tom noted, "No long welcoming speeches! No politicians or admirals offering platitudes! It's just a great party with our friends, honoring another friend on one of the best days of his life!" From the way Tom gazed at B'Elanna while he proclaimed this, Icheb suspected Tom was also referring to another wedding held not quite a year ago. When Icheb thought of that ceremony, he felt a little pang. Mezoti was still with them that day. Icheb was sad Mezoti was unlikely ever to know about Neelix's new home or family.

Lieutenant Barclay had arranged for other Pathfinder staffers to record the reception held in the happy couple's honor. The visual message would be sent to Neelix and Dexa over the next day's datastream. Icheb and Naomi asked to make a special recording for Brax, welcoming him into the _Voyager_ Family. "I'm so happy for you, Brax. Neelix is my godfather and an honorary uncle to me, and he was just the best, so I know he'll be a great father to you." As Naomi said this she was smiling as brightly as she could. Once the staff person recording the message had moved on, however, she broke down in tears. Icheb held her and comforted her as best he could. "I miss him so much," she sobbed, "but he looks so happy. I'm glad for him, too."

"I'm glad for all of them," Icheb replied gently. "They deserve all the happiness they can get."

Icheb noted that Tom's prediction about the " _Equinox_ Five" turned out to be true. They had been invited to attend this social function, and all of them were there. Icheb didn't care if it was to disguise the true nature of their resignations from Starfleet. He was glad to see them. Marla didn't stay too long, since Aimee needed to get to bed, but, as she said to Icheb after the ceremony, "I couldn't miss this chance for Neelix to see how much she's grown!" Baby Miral was in attendance during the ceremony, too, but after the hors d'oeuvre part of the reception was over, and once the staff filming the party had time to capture her likeness with her parents and grandparents, Tom's mother and father brought her to their home for the night. Tom and B'Elanna were going have a "night off" from child care. Icheb didn't need to be told the pair would have their own private celebration once they reached their quarters on _Voyager_ at the end of the celebration. Since there still hadn't been a decision announced regarding the fate of the Maquis, all of them had to return to the ship at the end of the reception.

Icheb had an early class in the morning and couldn't stay too late, either. Before he left the hall where the dinner was held, however, he saw Tom standing alone in a hallway outside of the main room. Icheb was surprised to see Tom had a thoughtful, almost sad look on his face. When Icheb approached him and asked him if anything was the matter, Tom shrugged his shoulders, smiled, and said off-handedly, "Oh, nothing much."

Icheb knew that answer should be translated as 'yes.' "Are you sure, Tom?"

Tom shrugged his shoulders again, but the smile faded from his face as he admitted, "Dad said you were with him when he showed Neelix's message about the Borg to Seven and Harry."

"Yes, I was. Is that why you seem so . . . pensive?"

That made Tom chuckle more like he usually did. "Pensive? I don't always joke around you know, Cadet Hansen." He sighed. "I _have_ been thinking a lot lately about the Borg and what seems to have happened to them. I already accepted we were responsible for the death of a lot of enslaved people, from the way all of those cubes blew up in the conduit. Now it looks like it wasn't only there. And whenever I think about this, all those temporal shenanigans we were involved with seem tied into this somehow. It's not just the Admiral Janeway connection I'm talking about. I can't shake the thought that our excursion to 20th century Southern California is part of it. I've asked myself over and over if we had to return to the Delta Quadrant once it was over because the Federal Temporal Police _meant_ for this to happen."

"You mean because you went back to where you were when the whole temporal thing began?"

"Exactly. From all we know about temporal anomalies, people don't know anything about what really happened once it's over, but _our_ memories are all intact to this day. The Doc was permitted to keep his 29th century mobile emitter. That's definitely not supposed to happen. Instead of just being returned to our own century in orbit around Earth - which would have been easy for Captain Braxton to do - we were sent back to the place where we'd been in the Delta Quadrant when the rift first drew us in."

"It's lucky for me you did come back. If you'd been sent directly to Earth in this time frame, you wouldn't have met Seven. You wouldn't have known anything about Species 8472. And if you weren't around to rescue us, the 'Borglet' Collective, including me, would have died along with First when our cube exploded."

Tom glanced up at the stationary image on the screen in the room where the reception was being held, showing the happy bridal couple with their son. He sighed and nodded his head. "And Neelix would have come all the way with us to the Alpha Quadrant, the lone Talaxian, trying to find a way to fit in. Kes would have been with him then, but for just a little while - not much more than a year. He was still a bit of a con man back in those days. But we went back to the Delta Quadrant, and Neelix learned a lot of lessons after that which he's putting into practice now. He's making a difference by helping his own people on Talax II, and he finally has a chance for a happy family life with his Dexa and young Brax. You're right, Icheb. If our journey had been cut short, lots of things wouldn't have happened. Some of our crew who didn't make it home because of those extra four and a half years would still be alive. But to balance things out, others would have died instead, like little Aimee, Mezoti and the twins, and you."

"I've heard people say 'some things are just meant to be.' Maybe this is one of them," Icheb responded.

Tom answered, "Maybe so. Well, I guess I've pondered this question enough for one night. I'd better get back to B'Elanna. Don't want to miss our 'date,' now that my parents have taken Miral for the night. My mother has been itching to get her hands on Miral for weeks. She wants to spoil her granddaughter rotten!" The words were jaunty, but Tom was quieter than usual as they approached the table where B'Elanna was sitting and chatting with Chakotay, while Seven sat listening to what they were saying without contributing anything to the conversation.

After a very brief conversation with the others, Icheb bent down to give Seven a quick kiss on the cheek. "Don't imbibe too much of that synthehol, now, Mom," he said jokingly.

"Thank you for that advice, Icheb. It's a little late. If I'd indulged, everyone in this room would be very aware of it." She smiled warmly at him and patted him on the cheek, but Icheb could tell something was bothering her, and it wasn't the fact that she was sticking to seltzer or that he was leaving the party to get to his dorm.

Archer Hall wasn't far away, but Icheb took his time. He had a lot to think over: about temporal displacements and anomalies; split second decisions that could lead to life or death; chance meetings that took on enormous importance later on, although no one realized it when it happened; and, especially, why his adoptive mother seemed sad at such a happy occasion as a wedding. He wasn't sure how to bring up what he'd sensed, or even if he should. He decided it would be better if he let her come to him. Really, maybe it was nothing. He could be imagining something was wrong when nothing was. Unfortunately, he had trouble believing that.

When Icheb arrived home, one of his suitemates was waiting for him. She was sitting on the couch in front of the exterior windows, gazing into the distance. The fog had rolled in from the sea, but the San Francisco skyline hadn't been completely erased. The mist transformed the lights of the city, including those of the Starfleet Communications Center just outside the campus grounds, into a many-hued abstract work of art. It was beautiful - and illusory.

The future might be something like this, Icheb decided. It was shrouded in obscurity. You had to traverse it, and you might think you knew the lay of the land, but did you really? You might not even know when you'd arrive at your ultimate destination because you didn't recognize it when you got up close. Too many variables.

But all he said when Verit asked him if he'd had a nice time was, "It was great."

=/\=


	55. The Fate of the Maquis

=/\=

 _Stardate 55073.4 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _The fate of the Maquis was finally announced today. I'm so relieved. They all received pardons from the Federation president for any actions taken against the Cardassians. Admiral Paris told us Starfleet and the Federation Council had insisted upon this from the beginning. Since crimes were committed on all sides during the conflict, dropping the pending charges was the only sane way to settle things. Otherwise, the trials could go on for years. Even the Cardassians said they wanted it all over and done with. One exception was made, however. A charge of genocide could not be made against any of the Maquis, although they still could be made against some Breen and Cardassian individuals. When I heard this, I understood the Equinox Five were lucky they'd been dealt with so secretively._

 _The reason it took so long for the decision to be announced was the Cardassian government's reluctance to release all of the Maquis prisoners they were still holding. They claimed they didn't have any in custody, but a Bajoran special forces group unearthed proof that a substantial number of Maquis remained in a prison in the Gamma Quadrant. When the evidence was presented to the Federation Council, the Cardassians finally gave in. The Maquis have been repatriated. The pardons were announced once the released prisoners reached Bajor._

 _So, if the Cardassian agent Seska, who pretended to be Bajoran when she entered Chakotay's Maquis cell, had still been alive, she probably would have gotten off, too. B'Elanna's still bitter about her. She thought Seska was her friend and felt betrayed when Seska's true identity was revealed._

 _The agreement covered all the Maquis in custody, including those who were in Federation prisons. Chakotay has already made arrangements to visit his friend Sveta. She'll be released from the same prison in New Zealand where Tom was incarcerated before Captain Janeway had him placed in her custody for "just a few weeks." This also means that some Maquis who are still in hiding may be able to come out into the open. Tom's mother knows several from her charity work on Bajor._

 _I was glad to hear there was one other pardon issued. Tom's general discharge from Caldik Prime has been expunged. That clears the way for him to return as a regular Starfleet officer. He's already put in his request for reinstatement. He wrote it up while he was waiting to hear if he'd be allowed back in. B'Elanna says that she'll sign up again, too, as long as they waive her last two years of Starfleet Academy classes. I can't imagine having B'Elanna in one of my Engineering classes. She could teach them! Seven told me she's pretty sure Starfleet will agree, based on her extensive practical experience as chief engineer of a Starfleet vessel._

 _Seven told me that as soon as their parental leaves end, she expects B'Elanna and Tom to join the Delta Flyer shuttle project. The group is adapting the Delta Flyer to become the new standard shuttle for all Starfleet vessels. Starfleet Command was really impressed with how strong and useful they would be, compared to the shuttles they've been using. If B'Elanna doesn't reenlist, Seven expects they'll hire her as a civilian consultant anyway, which is Seven's official title. She promised to let me visit their work site during my spring break. Since I have experience working on the construction of the Delta Flyer II, they might let me participate while I'm there. I'd love to work with my mother and my friends again, even if it's only for a few days._

 _One thing I'm a little sad about. Tuvok, T'Pel, and Asil are leaving for Vulcan tomorrow. I want Tuvok to be healed, of course, but I was hoping to spend a little more time with Asil than I've been able to, as busy as I've been with my classes. She told me I should visit Vulcan if I get the chance - eventually. She anticipates she will be helping restore her father's health for the next several months - maybe even longer. Her mother tried to convince Tuvok to go to Vulcan long before the pardons were announced, but he refused. He said he had to testify on behalf of many of the crew, and he didn't want to leave until he knew if his recommendations had been accepted by the authorities._

 _Asil also told me something which I'm not supposed to tell anyone else (although Tom knows). Her father had looked into the records of what happened at Caldik Prime some time ago, before Tuvok's mental state deteriorated. He noted that Tom was seriously injured in the crash himself, which I hadn't known before. When he made his false statements, Tom hadn't fully recovered physically or, possibly, psychologically. Commander Tuvok insisted on testifying in person when Tom's pardon was discussed. Perhaps his current condition made him more sensitive to issues of mental capacity, but Tuvok suggested that Tom may have been suffering from memory issues and/or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at the time he made his initial statements. There is no indication in the court records these possibilities were considered when Tom was thrown out of Starfleet, although he came forward voluntarily to "correct the record." Tuvok believed they should have been. I would like to think that Tuvok's insistence on testifying helped Tom gain his pardon. Knowing this only increases the respect I have for my former tutor. If the opportunity ever presents itself, I would be happy to serve under him._

 _Chakotay is free to petition for reinstatement, but he hasn't told Seven whether or not he's going to do that as of yet. He isn't sure of his future path. Unfortunately, I visited Voyager one day to speak with the Maquis who are still on board, and I walked in on them in Borg Central while they were in the midst of a nasty argument. I wanted to slink away, but Seven told me I should just stand near the door. I heard every word of what was said, and it wasn't pretty._

 _Chakotay told her he wants to "explore his options" before deciding whether or not to return to Starfleet. I think the main reason Seven got so upset was that he said he's leaving in two days to visit his sister for a couple of weeks to talk over these options with her. Apparently he once told Seven he never wanted to be more than a "transporter trip away" from her, but he hadn't even mentioned this trip to her before he made his travel arrangements. When he saw her reaction, he told her she could come with him. Since her son is living on the Academy campus, she didn't need to worry about me. I don't think she liked the way he phrased that, even if it was basically true, because that's when she became really angry. His suggestion to come with him was an empty gesture anyway, since he's perfectly aware that she must stay in the Sol system for the foreseeable future_ _because of the Delta Flyer project. When Seven reminded him of this (with a sneer, I must admit), Chakotay suggested the real reason she wants to stay is because she's attracted to Harry. Very coldly, she informed him that Harry is living with Libby Byrd, his old fiancée, who was widowed in the Dominion War. That was when Chakotay went a step too far. He said it didn't mean she wasn't still attracted to Harry._

 _Chakotay doesn't get mad often, but when he does, watch out! And I could say the same about Seven. She was . . . the best word is livid. If she still had an emotional inhibitor chip, she might have collapsed right there. She coiled her left fist (the Borg-enhanced one), but turned away from him instead. Chakotay stalked out after this, fortunately without saying anything else. I tried to have a pleasant visit with her after that, but it was awkward. Very awkward._

 _When I returned to campus I contacted Tom about what Seven had said about Harry. What I wished I could talk about was Seven's relationship with Chakotay - but that subject, of course, was totally off limits for me to discuss with anyone other than the people who were in Borg Central during the argument._

 _Tom and B'Elanna know about Harry's current living situation, and they're appalled that Harry is involved with Libby again. They'd believed he'd outgrown her, but Harry's inability to develop a stable romantic relationship with anyone while on Voyager may have been the reason he's turned back to her now. Harry was friends with her late husband, and initially, he simply made a condolence call. Seeing her again reignited their romance. Tom told me Harry clung to the memory of Libby throughout the first year in the Delta Quadrant, which may have kept him from fully adapting to life on Voyager during that period. Worse, from B'Elanna's point of view, is the fact that Danny Byrd, Libby's husband, was B'Elanna's nemesis on Kessik IV during her early childhood years. Despite this, when Harry introduced Tom and B'Elanna to Libby, they tried to overlook the past and take her on her own merits._

 _Unfortunately, Libby spent most of the visit talking about was how wonderful it must have been for Tom to have an admiral for a father. He got the impression Libby was hoping to wrangle his help gaining an introduction to Admiral Paris. She said very little to B'Elanna at all, which annoyed B'Elanna. She suspects Libby's husband may have related stories about his Kessik IV days which painted B'Elanna in a very bad light. "Harry's just too nice for her, but he's so desperate for someone to love, he's gone back to someone who says she wants him. I think she just wants to be connected to the 'heroic crew of Voyager' myself," Tom told me. In B'Elanna's opinion, Harry and Libby are "mok'tah," or "a bad match" in Klingon. I was glad to finish our conversation because this one was almost as awkward as the one in Borg Central had been._

 _If this is what "getting home" is like for everyone, I'm sure a lot of us are wondering if we weren't better off in the Delta Quadrant. I'm pretty torn. After what Admiral Janeway disclosed about what happened to "her" Icheb, I know I'm better off here, but it hurts to see how difficult the transition has been for so many others._

 _At least I'm happy at the Academy. My suitemates have welcomed me from the beginning. I feel comfortable with them all, but especially with Verit. I guess I have an affinity for Vulcans. She's majoring in a science, too, although in her case, it's Exobiology. Austin and Farys are Engineering majors. From speaking with some of the other cadets, I know I'm fortunate. Many of them have horror stories to tell about "the suitemate from Hell."_

 _And I love going to class. Sitting in a lecture hall with a large group of students, studying with my suitemates - it's such a change. I hardly ever experienced that before. Well, I did, for three days on Brunal. And maybe I did before the first time I was assimilated, too, but I don't remember that at all. Up until now, just about the only time I had a class with anyone else even close to my age was when Q Junior was on Voyager. He said he'd come see me at the Academy, and here I am. I wonder if the rest of the Continuum will let him get away from his father long enough to visit me? That would be quite an experience!_

=/\=


	56. Quinton

=/\=

It was as if he'd conjured Q up by mentioning him in his log.

One afternoon after his last class, Icheb walked into his suite in Archer Hall to see Verit looking warily at a very familiar figure, dressed, as Icheb could have predicted, in the uniform of a senior cadet, with the insignia of the elite Red Squadron on his uniform.

"Itchy!" Q Junior called out.

"Are you familiar with this individual?" Verit asked Icheb, giving him the benefit of her most piercing glare.

While Icheb would have liked to say otherwise, he admitted, "I do."

"I will leave and give you privacy to renew your acquaintance," she replied icily, and stalked out of the common living room and into her personal bedchamber.

"Q! What have you been saying to Verit? I've never seen her act like this before."

"Well, I might have been . . . coming on to her a little bit. She's very pretty. I don't suppose you've noticed, have you, Icheb? Are there many around like her, but, uh, friendlier, if you know what I mean?"

"Don't you get enough action when you're traveling with your old man?"

"That's no reason to ignore any other opportunities that may come my way."

Icheb sighed. Leaving the PADD he was carrying on the dining table, he said, "Cadet Verit isn't an 'opportunity.' She happens to be betrothed to a young scientist on Vulcan and expects the marriage to occur sometime in the next seven years." Noticing a familiar gleam returning to Q's eyes, Icheb added, "And please note: as far as Verit is concerned, her betrothal is a form of marriage. She won't play with you, trust me. And yes, I have noticed. Verit is very attractive. My other female suitemate Tana Farys is also very attractive. If you're nice, she might be a little more receptive. She's between girlfriends at the moment."

"And your fourth roommate?"

"The term is suitemate, and Austin isn't your type. You might be able to convince him to go out on the town and show you the local places where he likes to socialize, though. He's got tons of contacts and seems to know just about everyone."

"Oh, Itchy, what about you? You're not still droning around, are you? Didn't I have any influence on you at all when I visited you on _Voyager?_ "

Icheb sat down on the couch, laughing. "I'm too busy most nights to go on dates. I go out with other cadets in a group on the weekends, when my classwork is up-to-date. Since I'm not omniscient, I do have to keep up with my schoolwork."

"Point taken."

Icheb paused then and gazed critically at his unexpected guest. "And speaking of omniscience, how did you get away from your father? I thought you're supposed to be joined at the hip for all of eternity."

Q groaned dramatically. "Oh, I am, but I have a ringer who's agreed to take my place for a few days."

"A ringer?"

"My mother, actually. She's taken on my appearance. I hope she'll be able to keep up the charade long enough for me to have this little break with you. We tested it before I actually left, and she seemed to do a good enough job to keep him off-balance. It didn't seem like he recognized it was her, and not me, going off with him to the Moons of Peritzaz to check out the local wildlife. And those females really are wild and crazy! Putting up with that will be a real test for Mom."

Icheb's grin twisted ruefully. "You really are incorrigible, Q-Ball, you know that?"

"You remembered, Itchy! You haven't forgotten all our good times, have you?'

"You mean like stealing the _Delta Flyer_ and getting zapped by an ersatz alien who turned out to be your father in disguise? Hard to forget something like that."

"And your sense of humor is improving, too! I'm impressed, Itchy."

"Q, I'd prefer you to call me Icheb, not Drone-Boy or Itchy."

"Well, what name do you think I should use while I'm here? I think the Q who committed suicide was called Quinn. If he hadn't done that, I might never have ended up being born - but I don't think I want to use the same name he did."

"When Farys and Austin come in, we can talk it over. All my suitemates are very smart. Creative, too. We can come up with something."

=/\=

At first, when the five were having dinner, Q said he'd only nibble a bit, "just to be sociable, you understand. I don't usually eat anything, since I can control matter and energy on my own, you know." But, as the suitemates had decided on a "spicy/eclectic" meal that evening, Q began to do more than just sample the food. "Hesperat? That smells really interesting, Farys. And what's that you're eating, Austin? Tex-Mex? A burrito with verde sauce? It smells better than it looks. And wow! It tastes scrumptious!" Between mouthfuls of refried beans, pad Thai, and veklava, he eventually ate just as big a meal as any of the others had consumed. As they were ending their meal with a serving of iceberry torte topped with whipped cream, Q sheepishly admitted, "You people have developed some very tasty ways to ingest the matter needed to transform into the energy your bodies require. This food is a lot better than the kitchen rat's on _Voyager_."

"Neelix. His name was Neelix, Q," Icheb gently reproved.

"Sorry. Neelix. His food was still pretty awful, though."

While Austin, Farys, and Verit all had learned about the Continuum's existence in the course of their studies, they quickly discovered they were among the handful of people living in the Alpha Quadrant who'd met a Q who actually were aware that they had. While "Dad" Q had shown himself to the crew of _Voyager_ , to Picard and those on _Enterprise_ , and to the residents of Deep Space Nine, the Q generally disguised themselves as ordinary members of the races they encountered on planets they visited. Icheb took a back seat to the others and let them pepper their guest with questions about the Q. He felt it was only right, since he'd already had an opportunity to learn a lot about them during the young Q's exile on _Voyager_ (not to mention more than he wanted to know about Q's father's capriciousness). However, when the subject turned to what name Q should use during his visit, Icheb voiced something he'd thought about before, but hadn't ever discussed previously with Q.

"How do you know which Q you're speaking about if you're all called Q? What if there are four of you conversing? How do you manage to keep everyone straight?"

"We always just know. Of course, they usually call _me_ Junior, and I hate that."

"I don't think most 'Juniors' care for it much. We should agree on a name for you other than Junior. What about . . . Einstein? You certainly know a lot about e=mc2 and all that, just from being you," Austin suggested.

"I don't think so. It isn't really 'me,' if you know what I mean."

After discussing several possibilities, including Galileo, Hawking, and Archimedes, they began to get a little silly. "What about Qupernicous? Or Quachrane? Hey, Quetzelcoatyl might work!" Austin added, laughing, "That was the name of an Aztec god. It would be perfect for a Q!"

"A god? Hmmm. Now, that's a name that might be worthy of a Q. But it's a little long, don't you think? Maybe we could shorten it to just Quetzal."

"A Quetzal is a bird that lives in Mexico and Central America," Verit pointed out. "While it's plumage is quite colorful, I'm not certain you'd desire an association with a member of the avian family, although they are quite intelligent. A name like Quinn, which is familiar to humans and begins with Q, might be more appropriate."

Q exchanged a glance with Icheb before replying, "Unfortunately, that one's already been taken, so it's not available. No others?"

"There's Queenie - but that one's usually for a female. Couldn't you do a little gender bending?" Farys asked, looking hopeful.

"Um, no. Queenie has some very bad connotations. Too Borgish. Any other suggestions?"

"I've met people with the names of Earth cities," Farys answered. "There's Quito, and Quincy. Oh, and you could always go by Quasar. The name of a type of star would be perfect!"

"Quasar. No, I want to observe you here at the Academy. In order to do that, I'll need to fade into the background a little. I'm not sure that would be possible for a Quasar!"

"I'm not sure you'll ever be able to 'fade into the background' anyway, Q. I'm partial to Q-Ball myself, but I understand that would be just as bad as Quasar in that respect. If you like, I can look up other names beginning with Q in the database." As he began to get up from his seat, Austin suggested another possibility.

"I have a cousin in San Antonio named Quentin. There's also a variant, Quinton. Either one would sound pretty normal. No one would think it's odd or anything."

"Quinton. I actually kind of like the sound of that. It's unique, but it also honors my predecessor Quinn in a way. Thanks. That's the one for me. I hope none of your professors notices me when I tag along with you to class, Icheb."

"Captain Janeway is teaching a class on the Borg this semester. Since she knows you, she may be able to come up with a reasonable explanation for your presence. You'll need to wear civilian clothes if you come to classes, however. That uniform would _not_ be appropriate for someone who is not genuinely enrolled in the Academy." Verit's tone of voice became more severe when she began to speak about Q's mode of dress.

"Right. How about this?" When the flash of light disappeared, his uniform had been exchanged for an exact replica of the outfit Icheb had habitually worn on _Voyager_.

"The brown color does nothing for you, Q. I mean, Quinton. You can still wear a red outfit, if you want, just not a cadet's uniform," Farys advised.

The flash was more subtle this time, as the color of the outfit took on a mixture of red and brown hues. "Much better," Farys said approvingly.

"This is pretty comfortable. Now I understand why you always wore it, Icheb. And that brown shirt didn't do anything for you, either, Icheb. Now, to pay all of you back for your welcome to me, why don't I take you to this little club I know on . . ."

Icheb interrupted him. "No interstellar side trips, please. We have term papers to finish." At Q's puzzled look, Icheb clarified, "You know, essays? You're familiar with them. But really long ones, based upon our research in our chosen fields."

"Oh, those. Yes, I know what you mean. I wrote a couple for . . . well, I wrote one for Aunt Kathy, after Icheb was kind enough to . . . provide me with a sample . . . so I'd know what Aunt Kathy expected from me. I'd never written one before."

"Aunt Kathy is Captain Janeway," Icheb explained. "That's what Q . . . Quinton calls her."

"Captain Kathryn Janeway is your aunt?" Verit's left eyebrow arched precipitously in disbelief.

"Honorary aunt. It's a long story. Maybe later. Seriously, though . . ."

"What was your essay about?" Farys asked. When Quinton explained the paper was about the history of the Continuum, Farys said, "Oh, I'd love to read it!"

With a snap of his fingers, Quinton produced a PADD, and after the group encouraged him (not that much was needed), he read it to a willing audience. When he finished, Quinton stood up to take a little bow to acknowledge the suitemates' applause.

"It's really neat to be speaking with a member of the Continuum. We probably know as much about them now as anyone in this quadrant, thanks to your presentation," Austin said.

Preening at this sign of acceptance, Quinton asked the group, "Do you think I should enroll in Starfleet Academy?

"Why?" Verit answered. "If you're truly omniscient, you already possess the knowledge all cadets here are attempting to procure." Verit began to clear the table of empty serving dishes and eating utensils to return them to the recycler.

Quinton sighed, "I wouldn't mind taking a few classes with _you_ anyway. Just to test the hypothesis, you know, that I really _AM_ omniscient."

"If you are omniscient, you already know my answer," Verit responded.

"I don't have to be omniscient to know you'd say 'no.' For a people that claim not to show emotions, you're certainly not shy about letting me know your emotional reaction to me."

"Please, don't be insulting," Verit said, but her eyes danced in the way Icheb knew they did whenever she was _VERY_ satisfied with herself. "As illuminating as this discussion has been," she continued, "it is time for the non-omniscient individuals at this table to resume their studies for the rest of the evening."

"In that case . . ." Quinton flashed away.

At the mumbles of surprise from his suitemates, Icheb advised them, "Don't expect any polite expressions of farewell from a Q. It's always an event when they show any courtesy, especially saying 'ciao' or 'good-bye' when they leave you."

The suite was quiet for the next couple of hours as the cadets pursued their individual assignments. Quinton didn't reappear until all the suitemates, other than Icheb, had already retired for the night. Icheb was just getting up from one of the easy chairs near the windows to do the same when Quinton reappeared, with his body stretched out on the couch near the windows, his arms behind his head.

"Where have you been all this time?" Icheb asked.

"I went to see Aunt Kathy. She was surprised to see me without my father. You never told her what my mother told us? That my visit to _Voyager_ was really a test to see if I had what it takes to keep an eye on my dad?"

"I recorded an entry in my personal log about it, but no. The subject never came up between us. We had . . . other things to talk about, whenever I had meetings with her."

"Yes, I guess you did," he replied thoughtfully. "That serum was quite an achievement."

"You know about . . . of course you do. What happened between the Queen and Admiral Janeway?"

Ignoring Icheb's question, Quinton asked Icheb to describe _Voyager's_ trip through the hub.

"I can't really say from personal experience. I was too busy keeping watch over the shields at my station in Engineering. I heard from others though. It was pretty exciting. Lots of explosions, particularly of Borg vessels - with or without the help of 'Admiral Aunt Kathy's' transphasic torpedoes. Can you tell me . . ."

"Aunt Kathy told me you're a real favorite with your professors, especially Professor Reagan. She said he calls you 'my star in Astrometrics and Stellar Cartography.'"

"You're not going to tell me about what happened between Admiral Janeway and the Borg Queen, are you?"

Quinton ignored Icheb again. "How do you get along with the other students? I see your luscious pair of suitemates and Austin get along okay with you, but if you're doing so well, I'll bet others might be more than a little annoyed at how well you're doing, especially since you just got here."

Icheb admitted that he sometimes saw some resentment from others. "Quite a few of them come from Starfleet families and lost family members at Wolf 359. They still see me as a Borg drone, even though I couldn't have had anything to do with that. It occurred when I was still a little kid on Brunal. Assuming I was born by then. I'm not sure how old I am, exactly."

"Oh, you were around, all right. I checked once. But you aren't as old as you look, that's true enough." Quinton paused to look out at the view of San Francisco, visible through the suite's floor-to-ceiling windows. Eventually, he added, "I would imagine some are jealous about your loads of hands-on experience on _Voyager_ , too."

"Maybe," Icheb cautiously acknowledged.

Quinton sat up and faced Icheb head-on. "It's going to be all right, Itchy. I'm sure you're going to be doing great in this timeline. Like my mom told you, even though we like to say we're omniscient, the Q can be surprised by what an individual is willing to do; but I know you. You'll follow procedures, but you'll put your life on the line if necessary. That whole, 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few . . . . ' You really believe in that. I'm a little surprised that I do, too. Aunt Kathy was amazed when I told her about the real reason I go wherever my dad goes; but she's happy that I'm helping to save the Continuum in my own small way. And yes, it's a small way, Icheb. I know that now."

"I'm not used to you being so modest . . . Quinton."

Quinton laughed. "I can be, sometimes. Maybe I learned it from you. Anyway, Aunt Kathy was also very glad to hear that what my dad said about my mom, about her rejecting both of us, wasn't really true. I told her I know what the admiral did, sacrificing her life for the good of other beings who won't ever know what she did so others would live. Even though she doesn't know all the details, it seems to have changed Aunt Kathy. She's different, somehow. A weight came off her shoulders when she got so many of her people home. She's grateful to be here, but even more, she's happy all of you are safe, too. Or as safe as anyone is in this galaxy."

"That's true. I came to grips with that when the admiral told me about what happened to 'her' Icheb, in the other timeline."

"I'm glad that timeline is no more. I'm allowed to confirm that, at least. I'm glad you're here at the Academy. Mom said you would be; and see, she was right! I like your suitemates, too, Icheb. I can't say much about what I might know about the future. I'm not supposed to 'influence' you, according to Mom. But it won't be out of line for me to tell you your suitemates are going to do great, just as you will. They'll learn as much from you as you will from them. You're still the only real friend I've ever had, Icheb - maybe the only one I ever will have - but I'm glad to get to know them, too. It makes me understand my dad's fascination with captains like Picard and Aunt Kathy. You're all pretty special."

Icheb was pleased to see this sober side of Quinton. This was the same Q he'd heard speaking when he was lying in Sickbay, close to death; the one who was willing to go with his "Aunt Kathy" to find a way to cure him of his injuries. He knew he'd like to spend more time with him, but how much would they have?

"Quinton, how long are you going to be with us?"

"I'm not sure, Icheb. As long as my mom can keep up the ruse that she's me, I guess. We'll have some fun - even if we can't go off planet for it. I'm sure there are a few hot spots here."

"Tom Paris had some good times in Marseilles when he was a cadet. He'll have some ideas. And Austin knows as much about having fun as he does about engineering. He's a star to his professors, you know, but he's always talking about blues and jazz clubs, especially the ones in his home State of Texas. If you liked the food we had tonight, he can direct you to the best Tex-Mex there is near his home. You'll have plenty of fun, even if it's not as 'exotic' as the kind you have with your father."

"Hey, I think I'll enjoy the change. Following Dad around can be exhausting. Besides, there have to be a lot of hot girls on Earth, too, right?"

"Absolutely! Now, I do have an early class tomorrow. You don't really need to sleep, to you?"

"Oh, I rest every now and then. This couch will be fine. I might check out some of the local scenery while the rest of you are dreaming away."

"Well, enjoy your night. See you in the morning."

"See you, too, Icheb. And . . . thanks for being my friend."

=/\=

Quinton had arrived on a Tuesday. Captain Janeway introduced Quinton to the Academy superintendent as a "distant relative" who wished to audit a few classes during his short stay with his good friend Icheb. The captain's request was granted, and Quinton attended one or two with each of the residents of Icheb's suite, as well as several with Icheb. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut and listened - most of the time. After his visit to one of Icheb's classes in his major, Professor Reagan commented to Captain Janeway, "Your relative knows quite a bit about Astrophysics. Is he considering enrollment here?" The captain thanked the professor, and said she wasn't aware of any such plans. If Quinton did express an interest, however, Captain Janeway assured Professor Reagan he would be among the first to know.

Since the Federation Council met in San Francisco, Quinton spent Friday morning in the visitor's gallery, listening to the proceedings until noon, when the council adjourned for the weekend. When he met Icheb for lunch afterwards, Quinton enthusiastically declared how interesting he thought it was to view such deliberations. "Politics. What a fascinating subject!"

Since Icheb had attained a somewhat less rosy view of the subject after the way his Maquis shipmates had been left hanging for so long, his only response was to take another spoonful of his plomeek soup.

By Friday, with the prospect of a very "interesting" weekend ahead, Icheb and his three suitemates had been extra motivated to have their school work sufficiently well in hand to be able to fully enjoy it. That evening, the promised whirlwind of activity began with a visit to a jazz club in New Orleans, which Austin assured Quinton would be "populated with lots of attractive young people - especially of the female variety." The following day, they all traveled to Marseilles and visited the establishment which had served as the model for Tom's Sandrine's holodeck program. During this visit, while the group played pool, Icheb allowed Quinton to call him "Itchy," on the condition that he would allow everyone else to call him by the nickname of "Q-Ball." Austin became "Tex," Farys was the "Tenacious Lady T," and Verit eventually consented to respond when Quinton referred to her as "Madame Vulcan." On Sunday, Icheb convinced everyone to spend the day hiking along a trail in Yosemite, which he compared favorably to Tom's holodeck program. That night, Austin swept them to a blues club "in Austin, my hometown, of course!" The group barely made the Archer Hall curfew that night.

All things must come to an end, however, and just as everyone was having breakfast on Monday morning, Quinton received a "call" from his mother. "You can take it in my room, Quinton, Icheb said, leading him into the room. The "call" was a floating circle above Icheb's desk with a harried Mom Q's head poking out of it.

 _:::Hello, Icheb. You're looking well. Sorry to bother you, but . . . Q, your father is even worse now than he was when we were first married! I'm not rushing you, my dear, truly I'm not, but how much longer are you going to be on Earth?:::_

"Give me a chance to say good bye to Itchy and his friends. They're actually pretty cool."

 _:::You've had a good time on your vacation?:::_

"I have. I'll be there very soon."

 _:::Thank you, dear. Good-bye, Icheb. Good to see you again.:::_ The face and the circle flashed away.

After Quinton told everyone he'd been called home, they said they were sorry to see him go. "It has been fun, hasn't it? It's been great to meet all of you. I'll try to come back pretty soon. I was really impressed by the way your Federation Council operates. Do you think I could make it as a diplomat?" he asked brightly.

"No," Verit answered succinctly.

"You're breaking my heart, my beauteous Madame Vulcan." He reached for her hand to kiss it, which she snatched away from his grasp before his lips could caress it. "Oh, sorry. The touch telepath thing, right? Very astute of you. We wouldn't want you to suffer. Who knows if you could handle the undiluted power of the Q touch?"

With her left eyebrow raised with disapproval about his boast, which belied her words, Verit crisply stated, "I appreciate your willingness to refrain from touching me."

Tana Farys and Austin Sanchez had no such reservations. Farys gave him a hug, and Austin shook his hand heartily before the two of them walked out the door to get to their first class.

Icheb also had no qualms about shaking Quinton's hand. As Quinton began to raise it in the way he often did just before flashing away, Icheb called out, "Q-Ball, wait. There's one question you haven't answered yet. What's really happened to the Borg? Are they destroyed as a monolithic entity? Or are the remnants simply regrouping? If the Q are really omniscient, you must know the answer. Please . . . "

"I'm really sorry, Itchy. I knew you were going to ask about that. Mom ordered me not to tell you. But don't worry. You'll find out the answer soon enough." And then he flashed away.

"Do you think he'll be back soon?" Verit asked.

"Probably not, although with the Q, it's hard to predict what they'll do from one minute to the next. From what I know of his father, though, you're lucky he didn't show up, too. Our 'Quinton' has been assigned to follow his father around to try to keep him out of trouble, and that's an almost impossible task. I guess Quinton needed the break."

"How long did you have to put up with him?"

"About a week. He almost got me killed once, but it was okay. It was his father who zapped me, so he was able to bring me back."

After a short period of reflection, Verit said, "I've never had an opportunity like yours, traveling through a distant quadrant, discovering the species on previously unknown worlds. Compared to your life's journey, mine from Vulcan to Earth has been unremarkable. Quinton is a fascinating and very different life form to know, but I can now say I'm pleased it was you, and not me, who encountered him on _Voyager_. A prosaic journey has its compensations, does it not?"

"You'll never get an argument from me about that," Icheb replied, as he gathered up his PADDs to spend a very ordinary and productive day at Starfleet Academy.

=/\=

 _(Note: The "diplomat" comment by Quinton was prompted by the fact that Keegan de Lancie, who played Q Junior, was a Fulbright scholar and has worked for the U.S. Foreign service. I couldn't resist the allusion.-jamelia)_

=/\=


	57. Social Niceties

=/\=

The morning following "Quinton's" departure, Icheb received a very conventional visual message from him.

 _Hey, Itchy,_

 _I managed to sneak away from the old man long enough to tell my mother all about my vacation. (It helps when you can show her everything that happened in less than one of your seconds.) Anyway, she said humans on Earth expect some sort of thank you from a guest after a visit like mine. I pointed out that you weren't human, but that didn't impress her at all. Personally, I think she's been observing primitive bipedal humanoids more than she's been willing to admit to my father. Or maybe it's just that she really likes you. You're a good influence, she says._

 _We had a great weekend, but I have to say, attending classes with you and your suitemates was a totally new experience for me. Maybe if I can get Dad into reasonable shape for a while someday, I'll have a chance to get away and enroll in a school somewhere just for fun. So, thanks, Icheb. And thank Austin, Farys, and especially Verit for me, too. It's been real . . . I guess that's all I have to say, huh? It HAS been real._

 _Your friend, Quinton the Q-Ball_

=/\=

 _Stardate 55103.1 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _I just returned from another "Welcome Home, Voyager" reception. Everyone I spoke with hoped this one would be the last one for a while. Tom said he's tired of them and just wants to get on with his life. While he and B'Elanna do have another fancy dinner to attend in a couple of weeks, that one isn't a "Welcome Home" event. It's one his mother holds every year to raise awareness and funds for her charity work aiding displaced people in the area torn by the Dominion War. After that's over, though, Tom and B'Elanna insist they'll decline all invitations for "Rubber Chicken" evenings. B'Elanna told me she was tired of them the first week they were back._

 _I was glad to see all five of our Equinox crew were present, but this may be the last time I will. Brian, Jim, and Angelo have all signed on to commercial spaceships which will ship out at various times during the next two weeks. Noah is interviewing for jobs on Earth. He's up for one in Vancouver, British Columbia, at a biotech firm. His experience as an exobotanist on Voyager was key for him securing an interview. Since Captain Janeway gave him a positive reference, it looks good for him. Marla's going to start her new job in two days. It's in San Francisco, so she'll be able to live with her sister until she finds an apartment. She told everyone to keep her in mind if they hear of a suitable place. While she loves living with her sister, she says it's time for her to make a home of her own with Aimee._

 _Seven and I were seated at the same table as Naomi's family, Tal Celes, Billy Telfer, and Mortimer Harren. We won't be seeing Tal or Mortimer for a while after this, if ever. Tal is traveling home to Bajor on the same ship Tabor and his wife Orlanda Jor are taking to visit his family. Mortimer has finally been invited to join the staff at the Institute of Cosmology on Orion I, his" dream job." He'll be leaving the day after tomorrow. Billy will remain here. He's going for training as a Field Medic at Starfleet Medical Academy. It wasn't very nice, but I laughed when he told me that. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who did. Billy took it well. "I know all about hypochondria already," he admitted. "I finally decided I should find out how to treat all those conditions I was so afraid of catching while I was on Voyager!"_

 _I wasn't very impressed with Libby Byrd, Harry's former and possibly future fiancée. When Naomi and I were introduced to her, she was cordial, but as soon as she saw Admiral Paris with his wife on his arm, she wasted no time saying good-bye to us. She dragged Harry over to Tom's parents so he could introduce her to the admiral. I looked over at Tom and B'Elanna. They were whispering to each other, and both had grim expressions on their faces._

 _Later on, I went up to Tom and asked him if he could tell me what he was saying to his wife just then. "I told her my parents were really in for it now that the widow Byrd had met them. Did you see how she was hovering near them even after my dad turned away to speak with Captain Janeway? I just don't understand why Harry would go back to her after all this time. He's not the same guy he was seven years ago. From what I've seen, Libby hasn't grown up much at all, despite losing her husband. She seems really shallow to me. But what do I know?"_

 _"Maybe it's just that you like the really complicated ones," Icheb replied._

 _"B'Elanna would qualify, I admit that!" Tom laughed. "I don't really understand their relationship, any more than I do Seven and Chakotay's. Icheb, did they really get together on Voyager, before we came through the Transwarp Hub?"_

 _I told him they did. I wasn't sure if I should say anything more, but since Seven wasn't near me right then, I added, "It's been going on for a couple of months. Seven had her emotional inhibitor chip removed so they could begin their relationship." I was tempted to add something about the admiral's letter, but I decided against it. That's my secret to keep, and Seven's. As far as I know, she hasn't even told Chakotay about what happened in the other timeline._

 _Chakotay returned from his sister's two days ago. He seems to have made up with Seven after their fight. Last weekend I helped her move into a little house across the bay, located not far from the Academy campus. He moved in with her when he came back to San Francisco, but I still wonder how stable their union is. He sat on the dais next to Captain Janeway tonight, and every time I looked up at them, they were smiling and chatting very easily with each other. Whenever I looked back at my mother, she was watching them, too, but with a very stony expression on her face. While Seven looked beautiful in her elegant gown, I got the impression she'd rather have been in Astrometrics, or maybe checking out schematics for the new and improved propulsion systems for the Delta Flyer Project she's working on with Harry. Anyplace but here._

 _At least we had a very good time at our table, especially when we were talking about the naming conventions of Bajor and Ktaris. Tal Celes was very funny, explaining that the captain never seemed to remember that she should be called Ensign Tal when she was on duty. She always called her Ensign Celes. "I think Tabor had the right idea. He asked Chakotay not to let the captain know his personal name in the beginning. By the time she found out it was Daneil, she already had 'Ensign Tabor' stuck in her mind and never called him anything else."_

 _Naomi's dad, Lieutenant Commander Greskrendtregk, explained that if Ktarian naming conventions had been followed exactly, Naomi's name would be Naomigreskrendwildman. When she heard that, Naomi groaned loudly and banged her head on the table, which really hurt her. Those little projections on her forehead are extremely sensitive. Her father explained that after the personal designation is chosen, the father's first two names and mother's last are tacked on after it to form a single unique name._

 _"I decided to split things up a little," Sam explained. "Her full name is Naomi Greskrend Wildman, but I never publicized her full name on Voyager. I believe the captain and the Doctor are the only ones who ever knew what the 'G' in Naomi G. Wildman stood for."_

 _"Did you mind what Mom did, Dad?" Naomi asked._

 _"Not really, Naomi. Ktarians usually have single syllable names. After our marriage, your mother's name became Samanthawildmantregk on my planet. That IS a mouthful. I'm pleased she made sure your name would include mine, and in the right order according to our practice. Having it spaced out a bit to make it easier for non-Ktarians to manage doesn't matter to me."_

 _When the "Rubber Chicken" speeches began, Naomi and I slipped away to a side room in the hall so we could speak in private. She said her parents are very "lovey-dovey" at home. "He really is very nice, but having a dad around all the time is a big adjustment . He's trying to get to know me, and I'm trying to get to know him. But it bothers me whenever I hear him tell my mom how sad he is that he missed so much of my life. It's not like they could have done anything to prevent it. She didn't know she was pregnant when she boarded Voyager!"_

 _When we returned to our seats, I noticed Captain Janeway touching Chakotay's arm, laughing with him. He was grinning along with her. My mom scowled up at them, and I thought again she's just so different from Chakotay in every way. If Naomi thinks her adjustment with her dad is tough, what's it going to be like for me if Seven marries Chakotay in this timeline, too?_

=/\=

Shortly after Tom and B'Elanna began working on the Delta Flyer Project with Harry and Seven, Icheb was invited to come visit their work site. As she'd promised she would, Seven stepped down from a leadership position on the project as soon as Tom and B'Elanna arrived. While the two were now the co-leaders of the project. Harry continued to be designated as the official "liaison" with the "brass."

"I'll bet Harry is just _so_ happy about that," Icheb said sarcastically.

"Actually, he is. He believes the visibility he will achieve with the Starfleet administration will work in his favor. He's still very sensitive about the length of time he remained at the rank of ensign."

When he arrived at the project headquarters, Icheb discovered he wasn't the only person scheduled to visit that day. Captain Janeway came in with Chakotay shortly after Icheb did. As soon as they did, Captain Janeway made an announcement. "I'd like to present Starfleet's newest captain! Chakotay has been reinstated to Starfleet, and he's accepted a well-deserved promotion. Captain Chakotay will teach Anthropology at the Academy during the late spring and summer sessions."

Everyone congratulated him, of course, but Icheb could see his adoptive mother was perturbed by the announcement. Icheb suspected this was the first time she was hearing about this. Icheb wasn't surprised by the promotion. After the way he performed as Janeway's loyal first officer, Chakotay should have proven to the Admiralty that he was Starfleet "through and through." What did surprise Icheb was why Chakotay chose to talk over such an important decision with his sister before accepting such an offer. If he was truly committed to his relationship with Seven, shouldn't he have discussed this with her?

Icheb kept this observation to himself. When he congratulated Captain Chakotay, who was standing next to Captain Janeway at the time, he jokingly asked if he should take any of their classes. Captain Janeway laughed, saying, "You could teach my class on the Borg!"

Chakotay's answer was very different, even if he gave it with a smile. "If you're interested in anthropology, sure; but don't expect any special favors just because you're Seven's son."

Icheb laughed politely, but the more he thought about the comment, the more annoyed he became. Did Chakotay really think he'd need to get "special favors" to pass an Anthropology course? Maybe it was just a joke, but Icheb didn't care for the implications. He immediately decided his time would be much better spent taking other classes, such as Inter-stellar Ethnology or Interspecies Ethics. Even Klingon Physiology would be preferable. Who knew? Once he became a Field Medic, he might need to treat Klingons.

=/\=

 _Stardate 55123.1 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _Tom and B'Elanna invited me to attend his mother's charity event for the Desdichado Foundation. They help the families of the Maquis with food, housing, and medical care, among other services. Their primary focus is on the children, many of whom are orphans. I always thought Mrs. Paris was very nice. She had a lot of influence over her son, especially in the development of a sense of humor. (According to Reg, Admiral Paris has never been known for much of one.) When I heard her speak, however, I was even more impressed with her. Hers wasn't a "Rubber Chicken" type of speech. It was very short and sweet. She thanked everyone for their support for the foundation in this and in former years. Tom explained she traveled to Bajor for the first time when she thought Tom was lost to her. The idea for the Desdichado Foundation came to her during that first visit, as a way to help others who had lost family members during the region's conflicts. After she found out Tom was alive, she became even more motivated to help those who hadn't been so lucky as she'd been to discover someone they loved had survived, beyond all expectations._

 _She introduced the keynote speaker, a Bajoran vedek who works with her. Vedek Rikaar was a powerful orator. I was never bored listening to her speech. When I told her afterwards how much I enjoyed it, she congratulated me about how well I was doing at the Academy. I guess Mrs. Paris must have told her a little about me._

 _B'Elanna came over to my date Verit and me after the speech was over and explained that Vedek Rikaar and her husband were both former Maquis. They were able to come to this dinner because they'd received pardons from the Federation, too. B'Elanna knew the vedek. They'd been in Chakotay's cell for a short time, but Vedek Rikaar left shortly after Tom Paris was captured. "She and Tom were best friends at the Academy. They both had it rough after graduation, but since she met her husband Rikaar Tomas and had her little boy Tommy, things are going very well for her. Tom's mother has 'adopted' the vedek and her family. Little Tommy calls her 'Grammy.'"_

 _"B'Elanna, I was under the impression you never knew Tom in the Maquis. Is that true?" Icheb asked her._

 _"No, I never met him then. I was on a different planet than the one we used for our base renovating a ship when Tom and the vedek ran into each other again there. She kept us apart because she wasn't sure if Chakotay would accept Tom into our cell. We were leaving the other planet to return to our base when he was captured by Starfleet. We lost the ship he was on, but the rest of us escaped in the one I'd fixed up. I still can't believe I swallowed all the lies Seska told me about him when we were bugging out of our base camp. I found out later he sacrificed himself so the rest of us could get away. He told Laren . . . I mean, Larys, that since he didn't really know anything about the Maquis plans, his capture would be less damaging than ours would be."_

 _After B'Elanna left us, Verit turned to me and said, "Have you noticed how much Rikaar Tomas looks like Commander Riker of the Enterprise? The resemblance is quite extraordinary."_

 _"I have. It's amazing. If he wasn't a Bajoran, I would think he was the commander's twin brother!"_

 _After Verit and I returned to our suite, we speculated about how a Starfleet officer, even one who had resigned her commission to join the Maquis, would decide to join a religious order. It must be quite a story. If the vedek is so close to Tom's family, I may be able to find out more about it from one of them someday._

=/\=

Several days after the Desdichado Foundation dinner, Verit asked her suitemate for a favor. "I've decided to study of the genomes of various species for my major term project in Exobiology. Since you are the only known representative of your species in the Alpha Quadrant, would you be willing to share a DNA sample for my paper? It would be fascinating to compare yours with other species in the Federation."

"Of course. I have a PADD in which I've documented the genomes of many other Delta Quadrant species. You can borrow it, if you like. Your project would be unique if you included the Hirogen or Talaxians in your study."

"That would be most beneficial. I must confess, I had considered whether or not to ask if you had such a resource you would be willing to share with me. Since you're offering . . ."

"No problem. Let me find one. I have a few PADDs with that kind of information in them."

When he reached the shelf with his PADDs, he was pleased to see the first contained just the type of records she would find most helpful. When he handed it over to her, she said, "Thank you very much, Icheb. I will, of course, cite you as a source in my project report."

Icheb chuckled. "It would be fairly obvious to your professor what the source of your information was, but thank you. I would expect nothing less from you, Verit."

Since Icheb was due to leave for a class right after Verit made her request, he'd only glanced at the PADD's list of contents when he checked to see if it contained what she needed for her project. There were other files, too, identified only by the Stardate each one had been saved. Icheb used such a code for many of his files. Since he was in a hurry, he didn't take the time to identify exactly what data all the other files contained. If he'd done so, he might have chosen another to lend to Verit, who was fully capable of appreciating the importance of what her suitemate had shared with her. Some of those other files were backup copies from a very important gene resequencing project he'd undertaken, one which formed a critical component of the plan which led to _Voyager's_ return to the Alpha Quadrant.

=/\=


	58. Mezoti and the Borg

=/\=

 **When Mezoti returned home from school that day, Arebi called her into their main gathering room and asked her to sit down on the squeaky couch near the family communication console. "Mezoti, our leaders have contacted me and asked if one of my children could help them with a message they're having problems decoding. Three Borg scout ships are in orbit around our planet, and the message is written in Borg Alphanumerics. Azan and Rebi won't be home for quite a while because of their Karfella game. Would you be willing to help?"**

 **"Of course I will, Arebi. Can I gain access to the message on our console?"**

 **"No. They want us to go to the main communications center to view it."**

 **This was a surprise. What did they think the message contained? If the Borg had come to assimilate the Wysanti populace, the message would be unmistakable. It certainly would not have come in the form of Borg alphanumerics.**

 **"When do we leave?" she asked Arebi.**

 **He smiled. "I knew you would say that. We leave immediately."**

 **=/\=**

 **When they arrived at the Planetary Communications Central Complex, Mezoti was introduced to a variety of officials from the Wysanti Defense Agency. They quickly ushered her into a large room with a number of view screens mounted along the perimeter of the room, each bearing a message or image. None of the displays were blank, but none contained an image of a Borg vessel, either. When she'd walked far enough into the room to see what was on the largest screen in the room's center, which reminded her of the viewscreen on _Voyager's_ bridge, she could see two messages displayed, one right next to the other. The message was written in Borg alphanumerics on the left-hand side of the screen. The one on the right was in Wysanti.**

 **Mezoti quickly reviewed both of them. The Borg message was a little confusing, since some of the vocabulary was unlike anything she'd seen before, but she quickly grasped what it was trying to say. "The person who decrypted this message translated it accurately, except for the term 'medical assistance.' A better translation would be 'surgical procedures.'" She hesitated before continuing, "You did notice that the drones who sent you this message say they are individuals, members of the Borg Resistance Movement, didn't you? Captain Janeway set them free from the Borg Queen's control one Wysanti year ago. They're not connected to the Queen anymore. That seems to have affected their health. Their implants are failing, and their nanoprobes no longer heal efficiently. They believe surgical procedures are necessary to remove implants which are damaging them."**

 **Mezoti turned to her foster father. "Nanoprobes are very efficient at healing injuries and illnesses of drones. However, when the five of us first came on _Voyager_ , the Doctor removed any implants which were not working properly. He said he also had to do this to save Seven's life when she was disconnected from the Collective. This may be what's happening to these drones, too."**

 **Deveron Marin, the Defensive leader, asked her, "We don't have access to the knowledge your _Voyager_ Doctor possessed. How can our medical personnel assist these drones? "**

 **"Actually, I believe you do. When we came to live here, the Doctor provided my foster parents with information about how to treat maladies of former Borg. One of our physicians removed a part from my cortical node that was no longer functioning properly. Arebi, if you allow our physicians to share the Doctor's instructions with other Wysanti physicians, I'm sure they'll be able to treat these drones."**

 **"We can do that, of course. But Mezoti, while your translation of this message may be correct, how do we know if the message was truthful?" Arebi asked.**

 **"Why don't we contact them directly? They must have the ability to transfer their images here. I suspect the only reason they have not is that they don't want to seem to be threatening the Wysanti."**

 **The leaders huddled for a few minutes, discussing Mezoti's suggestion. She thought this was ridiculous. Viewing the drones who sent this message wouldn't present a threat to Wysanti. Mezoti was surprised they hadn't sent a visual message right from the beginning. When she thought about it for a few minutes, however, she wondered if they'd approached any other planets before, but had been turned away. That would explain why they sent their message in script form, rather than through direct visual contact.**

 **When the huddle broke up, Deveron Marin asked Mezoti to compose a message for his communications officer to send to the Borg sphere making the initial contact with Wysanti, asking them to open visual communications. Seconds after the message was sent, three figures appeared on the main screen.**

 **Mezoti was dismayed by what she saw. From the murmured comments and the gasps from the people around her, she wasn't the only one. The Borg on screen looked nothing like the beings who struck fear to individuals throughout the Delta Quadrant. Oozing sores surrounded the implants on their faces and the visible parts of their bodies. Some implants seemed to have been torn out the drones' flesh, leaving holes in the skin which were barely scabbed over. Mezoti was certain these wounds had become painfully infected. The drones' nanoprobes clearly were not working in the way they usually did to heal these injuries.**

 **Devoron Marin initiated vocal contact. "Borg vessels, you are directed to send two of your drones to a facility on our southernmost continent for evaluation. We are projecting a map to you to direct you to the proper location. How many . . . individuals from your three vessels require treatment?"**

 **The drone in the center replied, _:::Fifty-one.:::_**

 **Mezoti was shocked, but she was pleased when Marin said, "Send the two who are the most critically ill down to the hospital we identified. As soon as we know what we must deal with, we can alert other facilities to expect you. We can prepare them so all those needing our assistance can be accommodated as soon as possible."**

 **Mezoti was startled when the drone in the center said, _::: Wysanti Leader Marin, we have been searching for many time units for a people which will provide this assistance. We thank you very much for being willing to help us.:::_**

 **When the transmission ended, Mezoti turned to her foster father. "You may be certain they are _not_ lying to us, Arebi. No drone connected to the Collective would ever offer thanks to anyone - even each other."**

 **=/\=**

 **Several days later, all three scout ships had landed on Wysanti, and their sick and injured had been transported to one of several medical facilities designated to provide them treatment. Several other drones from each scout ship were functioning well enough not to need immediate hospitalization, but all were examined and found to need some level of care on an outpatient basis. All of them had implants which were beginning to fail. Based upon the data _Voyager's_ EMH had provided Arebi and Mazani for the treatment of Mezoti and the twins, the doctors were able to perform the procedures he'd recommended. **

**When Deveron Marin contacted Mezoti and her family to thank her for her assistance, he explained, _:::Even the so-called 'healthy' former drones are suffering a great deal of pain. I never thought I would feel so sorry for Borg drones.:::_**

 **"I don't know if they're really Borg now, any more than Azan, Rebi, and I are, Defensive Leader. I'm not sure what you should call us, either."**

 ** _:::I think people will do for now. Thank you again for your help, Mezoti. The Wysanti are very lucky you were here to help us, or we might have decided to turn these unfortunate people away, too, as other planetary governments did.:::_**

 **After the message from Deveron Marin terminated, Mezoti asked her foster parents for permission to visit some of the former drones in the hospital. At first Arebi and Mazani were somewhat reluctant. "What if you contract one of these infections from them?" Mazani asked.**

 **"Contact medical staff. Find out if I could be in danger. From what I saw on the viewscreen, their injuries began when they removed their failing implants improperly. That's why their infections began and eventually became so serious."**

 **Mazani did as Mezoti had asked. The head doctor from a facility nearby did not believe the four former drones in his hospital would pose any danger to anyone who wished to visit them. Mezoti's hypothesis about how the infections originated was consistent with the reports the former drones had given to his staff.**

 **Mazani and Arebi agreed to give their consent, but only if one of the foster parents went along with her. "You're too young to face such a sight by yourself."**

 **Mezoti had never told her foster parents about the alien freighter captain on their cube, who had been so brutally murdered by First, Icheb, and herself when they'd tried to assimilate him. That was a terrible experience Mezoti would never forget. She wouldn't burden them with this knowledge, but it convinced her that she would be able to endure anything she might see during a visit to the injured former Borg.**

 **The next day, Mezoti and Arebi visited the Sajar Medical Complex. Rather than Borg designations, the former drones receiving treatment identified themselves by the names they'd borne before they were assimilated: Tc'ikan, SEvuAla, Meruk'an, and Veria Sala. Although their scout ship was a very small one, Tc'ikan and Veria Sala had both carried the Unimatrix Zero mutation. They'd visited the virtual reality sanctuary until the Borg Queen destroyed it. "They were able to take over our scout ship by breaking the communication link with the Collective. That freed the rest of us from the Queen's control," Meruk'an explained.**

 **"It has been very difficult," Veria Sala stated. "We met up with the other scout vessels in our group, and at first, our bodies adapted well to the loss of the communication link. We don't know how or why, but suddenly, our ship mechanisms began to work inefficiently. Our implants began to fail, bringing us a great deal of pain. Our medical drone tried to remove them, but our nanoprobes no longer healed us after he was done. We became as you see us now."**

 **Arebi had allowed Mezoti to take the lead in conversing with the four, not out of fear - they were much too ill to pose any threat - but because Mezoti was very comfortable approaching them. However, upon careful consideration of what Veria Sala had described, he asked them, "Did you notice anything that was . . . unusual . . . during your travels?"**

 **"Do you mean the debris fields?" Tc'ikan asked.**

 **"Yes," Arebi quickly answered. If he'd thought he could avoid his foster daughter's curiosity, however, he was mistaken.**

 **"What debris fields?" Mezoti asked.**

 **Her foster father turned to her and explained, "We didn't want to upset you, Mezoti, but trading vessels have reported finding drifting fields of fragments. They all appear to be the remains of exploded Borg vessels."**

 **"Yes, mainly from very large cubes and spheres," Tc'ickan confirmed. "All but one of the ones we discovered appeared to have been destroyed at the same time, 57.4 time units ago."**

 **Mezoti made a quick calculation. "That would be a little less than three Federation Standard months ago," she said softly.**

 **"Do you tell time the way the Captain Janeway does?" SEvuAla inquired.**

 **"I do, but I keep it by Wysanti time, too. I lived on _Voyager_ with Captain Janeway until I came here one Wysanti year ago. By Federation time, that would be a few months more than a standard year."**

 **"Were you on _Voyager_ when the Queen destroyed Unimatrix Zero?" SEvuAla asked.**

 **"Yes, I was."**

 **"We determined that one of the Borg debris field we found was destroyed at that time. Our ship's leader Avery, who was Four of Seven before our link to the Collective was broken, told us the Queen destroyed some cubes when she detected only one drone was no longer linked to her. It was fortunate for us that we were able to break free before she could do that to our scout ship. That field is very near to your planet," Tc'ikan said. "If your leaders have not personally examined one, we can give you the coordinates."**

 **"I'll ask our Defense Leader Marin if he wishes to send out a ship to explore it," Arebi said. "He may be reluctant. We've heard the Borg often return to their destroyed vessels to retrieve components. Do you know if the Borg Resistance is still fighting vessels which the Queen controls?"**

 **"Not for some time. The last reports of fighting ended at the same time most of the debris fields were created. We haven't met with any intact Hive vessels to resist against since then." Tc'ikan added, "We need to become healthy and whole again so we have the strength to fight them when we do. That's why we decided to risk approaching planets to ask for help. We've been in contact with other Resistance ships which also require medical assistance. Do you think your leadership will permit them to come here, too?"**

 **"Now that we've seen the state you're in, that may be possible," Arebi cautiously replied. "Perhaps not too many at once, though!"**

 **"We understand your fears," SEvuAla responded, very seriously. If she recognized Arebi was trying to be humorous, there was no sign of it from the way she spoke. "We remember assimilation. It is a terrible thing. Mezoti, we honor your bravery, coming here to speak with us. It can't have been easy."**

 **She thought about how she could answer this for a moment before saying, "It hasn't been easy, but I owe it to you to help you. I know what assimilation is like. It's good I was here when you needed my help."**

 **As Mezoti and Arebi were leaving the hospital, after saying good-bye to the former Borg they'd visited, Arebi said, "I know you regretted your choice to stay with us when _Voyager_ continued on its journey. Do you still feel that way?"**

 **"I miss Seven and Icheb very much. I always will. If I ever have the chance to see them and live with them again, I'd like to; but Arebi, I'm glad I stayed now because I was able to assist these people. They deserve our help."**

 **"They do indeed. I'm glad you were here, too."**

 **=/\=**

 **Although Azan and Rebi had been reluctant, Mezoti convinced them to come with her and Arebi to see the drones recuperating at Sajar Medical Complex. After that initial visit, they accompanied them on several other occasions without any prodding from Mezoti. Rebi admitted to Mezoti later that although they hadn't expected it, the twins felt a kinship with other beings who had been stolen from their homes by the Borg.**

 **When the scout ship on which the four resided touched down on the complex's rounds, the twins were eager to visit it. This, quite understandably, made Mazani and Arebi somewhat nervous, but Avery, the leader of the scout ship, assured the grandparents she had no desire to kidnap them. "I will only take them for a short tour." It turned out to last longer than Avery had expected. After she identified several mechanisms on her ship which were beginning to fail. Azan and Rebi recognized what was going wrong because the same things had happened to equipment on their Children's Collective cube. They recruited Mezoti, and the three suggested ways to make repairs using substitute parts available on Wysanti.**

 **On the day Tc'ikan, SEvuAla, Meruk'an and Veria Sala received very good news, Mezoti, Arebi, and the twins were at the hospital. Their news made Mezoti more than a little sad. All four were to be released from the hospital and would return to their ship on the following day. None of the other vessels belonging to the Resistance which had come to Wysanti had been directed to Sajar. When she left the complex that afternoon, Mezoti didn't think she'd encounter former Borg ever again.**

 **Mezoti was mistaken. A few days later, the entire family was invited to a reception at the planetary capital. _:::One of the leaders of the Borg Resistance Movement has landed and wishes to thank your family in particular for your assistance to his people during this crisis:::_ Defense Leader Marin's aide explained in the invitation. Although Mazani was still nervous about contact with any of the people who had killed her daughter and stolen her grandchildren, she finally agreed to go.**

 **When the family arrived at the center where the reception was being held, they were happy to see Avery, SEvuAla and Veria Sala were among those present. As they waited for the event to begin, Tc'ikan also joined them. Most of the former Borg who were treated on Wysanti had recovered. In the end, only four succumbed to their ailments. Avery told them, "All of us are very grateful for the care we received here. You saved the lives of so many of us. What may be even more important, the information you passed on to us from _Voyager's_ Doctor will enable us to provide care to anyone who becomes ill in the future. We came today to thank you."**

 **Tc'ikan added, "Several more ships have arrived. All of them are also with the Borg Resistance. Most of those drones have been treated for their illnesses. We're planning to form a group to work on repairing all our vessels. Once that task is completed, our forces will move off to search for more of us. If we do encounter any ships still connected to the Hive, we'll try to free them, too." He stopped his explanation then, and pointed out a very tall figure striding in their direction. "Ah, look there! Our general is approaching!"**

 **When Mezoti turned to look where he was pointing, she was delighted to see who it was. "It's Captain Korok!" she called out.**

 **"Little Mezoti! Azan! Rebi! It's wonderful to see you again. I'm surprised to find you here, although I thought the Mezoti I'd met on _Voyager_ must be the same one helping my people here on Wysanti. It would be too much of a coincidence that there should be two individuals named Mezoti who had been freed from the Collective." **

**The presence of the three Borg children on Wysanti was quickly explained, and Captain Korok was introduced to the grandparents. Neither had ever met a Klingon before, and they were a little stunned by the hearty nature of this former Borg, who displayed none of the reticence they'd become used to from their grandsons and Mezoti.**

 **When the group broke up into smaller conversational groups, Mezoti moved closer to the Resistance leader. At a reduced volume, she asked him, "Korok, I spoke with Deveron Marin several days ago. We didn't know what to call the drones who are separated from the Collective. Do we still call ourselves Borg?"**

 **"We will always be Borg, little Mezoti," he replied, "even after we've been separated from the Queen's control for many years - even if every implant should be removed from our bodies! Never be ashamed of your history. We shared an experience that will never leave us, although we are now free to choose our own path. We're no longer are duped into believing we live by consensus."**

 **"I'm not ashamed of what I am, Korok. Although I prefer individuality, I know I will always be an individual who has lived as Borg. Thank you for answering my question. I _am_ still Borg." As she smiled up at him, she could not hold back her feelings. "Oh, I can't tell you how good it is for me to see you, Korok!"**

 **"Where are Seven and Icheb?"**

 **"They're still on _Voyager_. I agreed to live on this planet when Azan and Rebi were found to be of the Wysanti people. Their grandparents asked me to live with them, and I agreed." **

**She looked up at Arebi, who had stepped near the two. He'd picked up the thread of her thought. "I'm afraid she's sorry she didn't stay on _Voyager_ most . . . maybe all of the time." He looked worried when he added, "I hope you won't take her away from us. I know she would like to be with Seven and Icheb again, but from what you say about the Borg Resistance, it sounds so dangerous for a young girl . . ."**

 **Mezoti was surprised to hear Arebi speak like this. Was he afraid Korok would take her with him to _Voyager_? **

**Korok must have understood the source of Arebi's worry. "It would be difficult to find _Voyager_ if the ship is still traveling towards their Alpha Quadrant," he said, in as gentle a tone as a Klingon could muster. "You understand, my first responsibility is to the Borg Resistance. I must organize our ships so we can locate more of us. This can't be all who are left! I assure you, we will not assimilate anyone, but we need to protect ourselves. When we do encounter anyone still connected to the Queen, we must be able to continue the fight until all drones are free to live their lives as they choose, and not as the Queen's puppets!"**

 **Turning back to Mezoti, he continued, "However, if I should ever again make contact with the most courageous Captain Janeway and her crew, I will tell them I saw you, Mezoti. I will also let Seven and young Icheb know you are well, but that you would like to live with them again. Is that not so?" While this last had been addressed to Mezoti, Korok looked to Arebi for an answer.**

 **Arebi nodded slightly and said, a little sadly, "Yes, Captain Korok, it is. It's only the truth. But I'm glad to hear you have no designs against the Wysanti!"**

 **"Never again, Arebi. Not one drone of the Borg Resistance wishes to steal the life of another being. We have seen millions, perhaps trillions of people, and thousands of planets that have been destroyed by the Hive. It must end."**

 **=/\=**

 **A few days later, Mezoti said, "Arebi? I'd like to prepare a recorded message to send to Neelix the next time Masseni comes, so he can forward it to _Voyager_ after Masseni delivers it to him. Is that permissible?"**

 **"Of course. Have you drafted your message? I know you like to do that."**

 **"Yes, I wrote it all out on this device. I don't think I'll have to refer to it, but I will keep it by me. I don't want to forget to say anything I want to say to Neelix, and to _Voyager_."**

 **"I can set things up for you. Then I'll leave you to allow you some have privacy while you record it."**

 **"Thank you, Arebi, but I don't mind if you hear it. Mazani can come in to hear it, too."**

 **He raised his brows in surprise, but he complied with her request. After Arebi called in his wife, Mezoti began to recite her message to Neelix. By the time Mezoti had finished what she had to convey, Mazani was quietly weeping.**

 **Mezoti went to her and put her arms around her. "I'm sorry, Mazani. You've done everything right. It's not your fault I haven't adjusted. It's mine. When I visited with the former Borg at the hospitals here, I realized I preferred their company to that of my contemporaries at school _._ I don't think I'll ever really fit in here. I wish I could be the daughter you wanted when you invited me to stay with you. I don't think I can."**

 **Arebi was the one to put it into words: "Mazani and I have spoken about this many times when you weren't around to 'overhear' us. Making a home for you has been a privilege, but you're right. You were meant to live your life in space. Forgive us if we're not disappointed the Borg never assimilated us, so we were here to form a family when you needed one!"**

 **Mezoti looked up into Arebi's face and smiled. "It's just as Korok said to us. I would never want anyone ever to be assimilated. Losing individuality is a terrible, painful fate."**

 **Her foster mother was finally able speak. "We see how it is with our grandsons. We love them, but all they really need is each other. We love you, too, but we know you're the child of Seven and sister of Icheb. All children grow up and make their own lives. We _will_ return you to your true family if they ever come for you. Since that's not possible now, we're here for you, for as long as you need us."**

 **As Mezoti hugged her foster parents, and they hugged her in turn, Mezoti felt better. Arebi had known for a long time how she really felt. Now she knew Mazani had known it for some time, too. It's better for it to be in the open.** **They were family in the same way everyone on _Voyager_ was family - but that isn't the same kind as Naomi and her mother Samantha are family, or even how Aimee and Marla Gilmore are. Mezoti now understood the difference. ****That was what she'd had with Seven and Icheb, and she'd let it slip away. If that mistake could ever be rectified, Mezoti would do it. It was a relief to know that Mazani and Arebi would not try to stop her, if it ever should happen.**

 **=/\=**


	59. Problems of a Romantic Nature

**=/\=**

Icheb concentrated on his studies. He was fully aware of how fortunate he was to be a cadet at Starfleet Academy. The _Voyager_ crew members who remained in the Sol System treated him like a member of the family. Seven had accepted the responsibility of making him, quite literally, a member of her family through adoption. He'd been incredibly lucky when he'd been assigned to the same suite as Verit, Farys, and Austin. While a few people on campus may have resented him, Icheb's work ethic and general air of humility had won most of them over. He was respected for his intellectual achievements. Icheb didn't think his life could get any better.

It was all too good to last.

When Icheb stumbled, the cause was the usual elephant in the room for adolescents from any race which utilized single-cell reproduction. Despite Icheb's stated intention to remain free of romantic entanglements while studying at the Academy, his resolve was broken because of the way many other cadets "swooned" over his "face jewelry." It was inevitable. Icheb fell in love, or, at the very least, a reasonable facsimile.

Jolana Tor was enrolled in the same Basic Hand-to-Hand Combat class as Icheb. Although Jolana was Ktarian, she didn't look at all like Naomi Wildman. Instead of a row of protrusions on her forehead, she had bulges on each side of a narrow ridge. Her eyes, which were set deep, were a sparkling shade of green, like an Earth feline's. Her movements were fluid. Icheb was captaivated by her whenever they were close to one another.

Perhaps the physicality of the class they shared had something to do with it. On several occasions they'd been partnered, either as the defender or the aggressor, in practice combat situations. By the fourth time they were paired, Icheb thought their close proximity to one another was affecting his ability to breathe whenever they touched. After that fourth class, Jolana bumped into Icheb as they were exiting the classroom. She apologized, but her body leaned against Icheb's for much longer than necessary. Icheb became extremely flustered, aware of multiple changes in his body chemistry that had nothing to do with the environmental control settings in the corridor.

"I love your face jewelry," Jolana breathed in his ear. Icheb couldn't seem to find any way to respond as she slipped her hand inside his elbow and directed him down the corridor. Two hours later, after Jolana had invited him to her private room in Montgomery Scott Hall "to get better acquainted," Icheb was initiated into the joys of sexual intercourse.

As they cuddled with each other in her bunk afterwards, Icheb reviewed the fragments of memories inherited from other Borg's pre-assimilation memories and came to the conclusion that all those months ago, when Tom Paris told Icheb that those memories were nothing compared to what it was like to perform the actual act, Tom had been absolutely right.

Icheb decided he must be in love.

For the next few weeks, when Icheb wasn't in class or studying, he spent the bulk of his time with Jolana. The sex was marvelous. She taught him something new almost every time they were together. Getting to know her was a little more difficult, however. Jolana usually deflected talk away from herself in favor of flattering him. When they spoke casually, the subject always seemed to be his life on _Voyager_. He told her about the rescue from the ruined Borg cube, and how adjusting to the life and choices of an individual were difficult at first. He spoke about his little sister Mezoti, who'd remained behind in the Delta Quadrant with their other "Borglet siblings," other than baby Aimee. She asked questions about alien races and learned about Icheb's life on Quarra. While there were many experiences he was still reluctant to share with her, he assumed they'd share more with each other in time.

When he did venture back to his suite to spend any length of time with his suitemates, he told them how perfect his Jolana was. They listened politely, but not with the enthusiasm he'd expected. He knew Verit was unlikely to be jealous (or be willing to express it even if she was), but Farys only said Jolana was "pretty enough," and Austin told him, "If she lets you do all the talking, no wonder you think she's perfect."

About three weeks after their relationship began, Jolana started to open up a little more around Icheb. While she still didn't reveal much about life on Ktaria VII (she never called her native planet Ktaris, Icheb noticed), she did make little comments about other people they knew which Icheb sometimes thought were a bit harsh.

At one point, Jolana was quite dismissive of Icheb's "little friend from _Voyager_." At first he thought she was referring to Aimee Gilmore, since he'd been talking about how he used to take care of her when they were living on Quarra. Then he realized she might be referring to Naomi. When Icheb asked her to confirm the "little friend's" identity, she said, "The half-Ktarian, of course. She'll be pretty enough when she's grown up, but that's probably because she's half human. Her father's people, the ones who call our planet Ktaris, are very different from us. They're so boring. They don't know how to have fun. We do."

Icheb changed the subject on that occasion, but over the next couple of days, he realized that when Icheb wasn't speaking about himself - which was boring to him - Jolana made a lot of cutting remarks about other cadets, not to mention the professors. Always, "just between us, of course."

The following Friday evening, he told Jolana he had a paper to write and would be too busy to go out on Saturday or Sunday. "Oh, you poor dear. You won't have any fun at all, will you?" But she said she had her own work to do and would check with him on Sunday evening, in case he finished his assignment earlier than anticipated.

In fact, his paper was done shortly before noon on Saturday. Rather than let her know he was free, Icheb began to think about how suddenly his life had changed. While the sex was absolutely glorious, having to talk about himself all the time to prevent hearing his girlfriend's negative opinions about their acquaintances was not.

Farys and Austin were both visiting friends off campus that weekend, but Verit was there, as she usually was on weekends. Verit asked Icheb where his girlfriend was, and he said they both had "something else to take care of." She was not fooled. Verit asked Icheb what was bothering him. His first response was, "Nothing," but when Verit gave him that intense Vulcan stare of hers, he found himself "spilling his guts." After a brief pause, Icheb asked Verit what she really thought of Jolana Tor.

She gazed at him in the same measuring way he remembered from the first day they'd met. Finally, she broke her silence. "Icheb, you are a most unusual person - and not just because you are the only Brunali in this quadrant. Most males of my acquaintance wouldn't even notice if their lover seldom disclosed her own thoughts and always encouraged him to speak about himself. When she does share an opinion, from what you say, it's in the form of what humans call 'catty' remarks." Verit paused and added, "She does look somewhat feline."

A little stung, Icheb responded, "Isn't that comment a little catty, too, Verit?"

Verit raised her eyebrow in the subtle manner that showed amusement. "Perhaps it was, but you asked for my opinion of Jolana Tor. She does not impress me as being as attached to you as you are to her. You may enjoy the physical nature of your relationship, but I doubt it is likely to last for long. From my observations of you during the past few months, I find you are, by nature, very accepting of other people and their foibles. Your friendship with 'Quinton' is a prime example of this willingness to accept a person as they are, without judging them. I've never heard you make disparaging remarks about other people. You present yourself to others without pretense - or if you do, I've never seen you do it. If 'cracks' are beginning to show in your relationship, it is because you view people very differently from the way she does. You are open with others. She is as closed off as a Vulcan, not because she adheres to a philosophy like the one my people follow, but because she's hiding something from you. Such behavior is the opposite of true intimacy."

"Verit, how do you know all this? Is it something you've learned through meditation?"

"This has nothing to do with the practice of meditation, Icheb. When you described the way you spend your time with your girlfriend, you revealed this to me. It is as I've said - you're open with others and let them see your soul. I have been acquainted with Cadet Tor for almost two years. I've already formed my opinion of her. If you truly love her, your relationship will be difficult because of the fundamental differences between you. Are you in love with her?"

"I thought I was. I don't know anymore."

"You need to speak with her about this, Icheb. I predict she will not respond the way you'd like her to, but I may be mistaken."

Verit arose from the table and began to walk into her bedchamber, but she suddenly reversed course and said, "Icheb, I've never mentioned my practice of meditation to you or anyone else. I restrict this activity to the privacy of my room. How do you know about it?"

He sighed. "When you serve on a ship as small as _Voyager_ , you notice things. Whenever you've reported you've had a difficult day, you retreat to your room. When you emerge, your equilibrium has been restored. I've also recognized a faint whiff of smoke I associate with a meditation lamp coming from your room. The same odor permeated Commander Tuvok's quarters whenever I entered it for a tutoring session. Everyone on _Voyager_ knew he practiced meditation. He taught it to many of the crew. I made a logical deduction. Was I wrong?"

Verit returned to the seat at the table she'd just abandoned. "I find no fault in your logic. What else have you 'learned' about Vulcans during your time on _Voyager_?" The tone of her voice was mild, but Icheb heard an undertone of challenge in it.

"Please, don't take offense, but I know, contrary to popular opinion, that Vulcans experience emotions, sometimes very strong ones, which can be difficult to manage according to your culture's dictates. The practice of meditation is one method used to control them."

For a few minutes after Icheb's statement, the only sound in the room was that of the suitemates' breathing. When the rumble of circulating air erupted from the environmental control system vents, it was almost deafening. Shortly afterwards, Verit broke the spell of silence.

"Icheb Hansen, you are a very good person. I cannot tell you what to do about your relationship with Jolana Tor. You must decide that for yourself. If you wish to seek advice, your adoptive mother Annika Hansen undoubtedly would be a better resource than I. However, since you asked for my opinion, I will share it with you. You are wasting your affections on a person like Jolana Tor. She will not return them to the same degree that you bestow them on her."

=/\=

Icheb wasn't as certain as Verit that Seven could advise him on romantic matters, considering her relative lack of experience in that regard. As far as Icheb knew, other than her current partnership with Chakotay, her only other romance had taken place with Axum in the virtual reality setting of Unimatrix Zero. Icheb did love his mother, however, and whether she had any advice to give him or not, he knew he should confide his uneasiness about Jolana with her.

A week after he'd bared his soul to his Vulcan suitemate, Icheb contacted Seven, who invited him to spend Sunday afternoon with her. When Icheb learned Chakotay was also going to be there, he felt a little more confident that he'd receive a measure of guidance from the visit. Thanks to the rumor mill on _Voyager,_ Icheb was aware of several romantic episodes experienced by the ship's first officer during the journey through the Delta Quadrant. He was also the man who might someday become his stepfather. Although when he was honest with himself, Icheb knew he felt closer to Tom Paris, or even Harry Kim, than he did to Chakotay, perhaps asking for Chakotay's opinion would help them build a closer relationship.

When Icheb arrived at the cottage that afternoon, however, he never felt comfortable enough to open a dialog with either Seven or Chakotay about Jolana. While Icheb didn't walk into a serious fight, like he did that time in Borg Central, as soon as Icheb walked inside the cottage, he sensed a tension between Seven and Chakotay. This was not a good time to speak about problems of a romantic nature to the couple, nor was it wise for Icheb to explore the question about when, or if, Chakotay planned to adopt him.

They shared a light meal, a salad for Chakotay and replicated nutritional supplements for Seven and Icheb. The conversation at the table was stilted. The primary subject discussed was which flowers the pair would choose to grow, as their garden was a relatively large one for the neighborhood. When Icheb suggested they go outside after dinner to map out where to plant their choices, neither Seven nor Chakotay were "in the mood" to do that this evening.

Not long after that, Icheb told them he needed to get back to his room to complete a project (an imaginary one, but they didn't need to know that). After taking his leave of Chakotay, he walked out of the house with his mother and asked Seven if everything was all right between them.

"Just a small disagreement," she replied. "You have no need to be concerned." Even more than the contents of her response, he was dismayed by the way she said it. Seven would have replied with the identical lack of inflection before the removal of her emotional inhibitor chip.

Icheb walked back to the campus to give himself the opportunity to reflect upon his perceptions. The disagreement, he was certain, was anything but small. He couldn't help but worry. The more he tried to ignore the signs of profound discord between Seven and Chakotay, the more concerned he became.

=/\=

When Icheb woke up several mornings later, he discovered a message Jolana had left for him over the Academy communications network. _:::Icheb, it's been great, but it's not really working between us anymore, is it? You're a great guy. It's been fun. See you in class.:::_

And it was over.

When Icheb came into their common room, Farys asked, sympathetically, "Icheb, are you okay?"

"Okay? Yes, I guess so."

"You look a little sick, ol' buddy. Hey, it happens to all of us. Better to break up now, before you get in too deep," Austin said, nodding sagely.

Icheb stopped in his tracks. "Breaking up? Yeah, we did break up. How did you know?"

Farys explained, "I saw Jolana draped all over Xerxes Mironov in Vanetti's Pizzaria last night. You broke up with her before last night, I hope?"

"I, uh, well, I only read her message this morning. I didn't notice what time she sent it."

"She broke up with you by _sending you a message!_ By the Prophets! That's disgusting. Not that I'd expect any better from her. So _are_ you okay? Really?"

Icheb took his accustomed seat at the table next to Austin and thought about Farys' question for a few moments. He was surprised to find his earlier answer, about being "okay," was accurate. "I guess I am. I'm disappointed it didn't work out between us, but I can't say I'm devastated, either. Maybe I'm just stunned."

Austin said, "Don't worry. You'll find someone a lot better than Jolana Tor. She's the type who doesn't stick with anyone for long. You were just a novelty boyfriend - another notch on her bedpost. From what I've heard, you're not the first guy she's thrown over without facing him in person. With that catchy face jewelry of yours, Icheb, you'll have to watch out for others like Jolana who just want to have a fling with Cadet Icheb Hansen from the very famous starship _Voyager_. You'd best watch out for them, Buddy."

Since Verit had previously expressed similar reservations about Icheb's choice of girlfriend, he turned to her and said, "You can say, 'I told you so,' Verit."

Verit's elegantly expressive eyebrow flicked upward but retreated to its normal position almost immediately. "There is no need. Your disappointment will be temporary. You knew this was coming weeks ago. She was not worthy of you, Icheb."

Icheb had to smile at her blunt, but accurate, assessment of how he felt. Icheb sighed, got up, and walked over to the replicator and fixed himself a hearty breakfast. He was very hungry and swiftly wolfed down two servings of banana pancakes.

"You're already over her," Austin joshed. "You sure haven't lost your appetite."

=/\=


	60. Advice from Mr Lonelyhearts

=/\=

 _Stardate 55313.5 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _When I walked into my combat skills training class this morning, Jolana wasn't there. It was a relief. I didn't have to worry about being paired with her in any activities. At the end of the class, Sa'eri Maduk, my instructor, called me over and told me Jolana had requested a transfer to the other section of the class, which meets on different days of the week. He seemed a little reluctant to tell me, and then he said, "I realize you two have become very close . . . friends recently. Did she tell you she was planning on making this change?"_

 _I told him she had not, but it didn't matter. Our friendship wasn't exclusive. He seemed quite relieved. When I asked if the fact there were now an odd number of students in this session would pose a problem, he said it didn't matter. "People are absent every now and then anyway. We always have to work around the numbers. You're one of several students who are ready to learn techniques for taking on more than one opponent at a time. I'll start introducing those skills during our next class. It will all work out fine."_

 _When I walked out of the gym where the combat skills class is held, I realized what I'd told Mr. Maduk was true. Our friendship certainly wasn't "exclusive," not anymore. I have a hunch that it never was, from Jolana's point of view. My friends are right. I **am** already over her, but I'd still like to gain some perspective about what had happened from someone who has more experience with romance. _

_At this point, consulting Chakotay is out of the question. Harry Kim had a chain of unfulfilling romantic affairs on Voyager. He sometimes as clueless as me, even if I ignore his current situation with Libby Byrd - or maybe because of it. And when I remember how eager the Doctor was to give me advice about the "romantic overtures" I thought B'Elanna was sending me that time on Voyager -which I now think was a little on the creepy side - I'd rather talk to anyone else about the subject. Naomi would probably give me better advice!_

 _Of course, the best "anyone else" was the person I should have approached when I first became confused by Jolana's behavior. I think I can count on his advice not being creepy. He might even make me laugh about what happened._

=/\=

"Tom, how do you know when you're really in love?" Icheb asked, after "just dropping in" at the the Paris/Torres home. He'd wanted to time his visit well, so he contacted them just before the dinner hour. They were able to tell him what time he should arrive to avoid any interference with their nightly routine. Icheb had a chance to play with Miral, who was already very mobile for her age, thanks to her Klingon ancestry, while delighting the parents by telling them how beautiful their daughter was getting to be - not to mention so smart, too!

He'd timed his question to Tom well, too. B'Elanna had just carried the baby off to her bedroom for the bedtime ritual of nursing and singing her to sleep. Icheb didn't feel comfortable talking about this particular subject in front of B'Elanna, considering his misinterpretation of her friendliness for a sexual come-on when they were on _Voyager_.

"I thought you might have another reason to visit us tonight. I'm always happy when someone tells us how terrific are daughter is. I never get tired of hearing that from you, or anyone else I know, for that matter. I _have_ heard a rumor you've been seen around campus with a pretty Ktarian girl who isn't named Naomi Wildman. It's over, I take it? "

Icheb related the history of his relationship with Jolana Tor. When his story was over, Tom commiserated with him. "You seem to be getting over her okay, so I'm certain what you felt was infatuation, not love. Thanks to her, you know what sex is like from first-hand experience, at least. Even though it's over, you've gained something from it. Was it all you expected?"

"It was pretty great," Icheb admitted with a pained chuckle. "I guess I'll miss that the most about Jolana. Our conversations were pretty shallow, now that I think back on them."

"Making love will be even better when you're truly in love with your partner. I guarantee you won't find the conversations 'shallow' then, either. Sharing your feelings will be really important to you then. From what you say, this Jolana didn't really open herself up to you."

"No, she always wanted to talk about me. At first I was flattered by that, but after a while, it got to be boring. Tana Farys, one of my suitemates, said most guys love talking about themselves all the time. She said I was the first guy she ever heard complain about it."

"Here's hoping Jolana isn't planning on publishing a holonovel exposé about 'life on the infamous ship _Voyager_.' She's not majoring in Journalism, is she?"

"That isn't a major at the Academy now. Was it in your day?"

"'My day!' Ouch!" Tom grimaced, as if in pain. "I've got to admit, it's been a few years since I was there with Laren, but I was joking about the Journalism part. Even in 'my day,' the Academy wasn't the place to go if you wanted to major in that subject."

"Laren - that's Vedek Rikaar Larys, right? B'Elanna told me you were friends at the Academy when we were at your mother's dinner."

"Yes, she was." Tom hesitated for a moment before continuing, "You do know her name was Ro Laren then, right?"

"The Ro Laren who defected from Starfleet?"

"Yes. One and the same."

"She went from Starfleet, to the Maquis, to a religious order on Bajor?"

"Yes, quite a journey. I don't think I have time to tell you all about it tonight."

"You don't want to talk about her in front of B'Elanna, I guess."

"Oh, that doesn't matter. Thanks to the unlovely Seska, B'Elanna knew all about Laren and me before I ever had a chance to meet her. We were all in the same Maquis cell at the time, but I never actually met B'Elanna until the Caretaker snagged our ships and dragged them to the Delta Quadrant. No, I was infatuated lots of times when I was your age, Icheb, and even a few times afterwards, but I've only been in love twice in my life. With B'Elanna, of course. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. It's really a miracle we both landed in the one place where our love for each other would have a chance to develop and flourish." Tom stopped speaking for a moment and looked away from Icheb as a slow smile spread across his face. "It took six years for us to finally understand that we were meant to be together. Since then, it's been good. So good."

"And the other time you were in love with Laren?"

Tom sighed. "Yeah. We were good friends at the Academy, but when we met again in the Maquis, we were ready for something more. But then I was captured by Starfleet. I was sure I'd never see her again even before I ended up in the Delta Quadrant. And now it turns out my mother has basically adopted Laren and her family! But it's all good. Laren and B'Elanna were friends in the Maquis. They've always respected each other." Tom bent his head down and made a show of looking over his shoulder to check on the location of his wife, but his chuckling let Icheb know it was all a joke when he whispered, "Although it is true my B'Elanna can be a wee bit possessive sometimes." Icheb began to laugh along with Tom, knowing how intensely B'Elanna could react to any threat she perceived to those she loved.

"Seriously, B'Elanna knows there's nothing other than familial affection between Laren and me now. She's my third sister. Laren claims her own Tom is her 'perfect mate', and I know B'Elanna's perfect for me. Laren says her Prophets planned it that way. Maybe they did. Laren lost her own family during the Occupation, you know, but now she has another. It's like the way you and Seven became a family, although with my mom, there was no official court hearing or anything. Mom always liked Laren when she was at the Academy. Laren spent the school holidays with our family. Mom went to Bajor after she thought I was dead. That's when they met again. Laren says she's the one who adopted my mom so her little Tommy would have a grandmother. Mom loves him just as much as she does Miral and my sister's son."

Icheb had an easier time digesting the adoption part of Tom's story than he did about Tom's explanation about how he now felt about Laren. Finally, Icheb admitted, "I guess I don't understand how love works. You were her friend, and then you became lovers, and now you're really okay having Laren be your sister? Is that possible?"

"To fall in love with someone you've known a long time as a friend? Sure. There's a tradition on Earth of falling in love with the 'girl next door.' It happens. Yes, we were really just friends, best friends even, when we were at the Academy, but nothing more. We'd never had any romantic feelings for each . . . well, wait. Let me be honest. I would have welcomed a romance with her when we were cadets, but there were certain . . . barriers back then. It's not my place to explain that part to you, Icheb. However, since she was my friend, she always gave me very blunt assessments about my dates. Girls who were interested in me tried to get on her good side so they'd get a favorable review. She always thought that was very funny."

"So love is complicated."

"It's complicated and simple at the same time, Icheb. It's not a bad thing to have a 'first love' that doesn't work out. That's pretty traditional, too. Many people become infatuated with more than one person before they find the one that's truly 'The One.' Sometimes you fall in love with someone who might actually be 'The One,' but something separates you. I mean, not to be depressing or anything, but widows and widowers do sometimes find another person to love after they've lost their spouse."

"You mean like Harry and Libby?"

"Umm. Probably not the best example. Hey, maybe I'm too hard on the girl. Maybe it will turn out okay for them. I don't know."

Tom cleared his throat and said, "My point is, just give yourself time to find the right one. Don't settle for the first girl who throws herself at you. You deserve better than that."

"My suitemates agree with you. They say I'm better off without Jolana. And it's true, I was getting distracted from my studies when we were going out on dates." Icheb wanted to add that he was even more distracted when they stayed in, but he decided that was too much information. Fortunately, Tom's attention was caught by Icheb's admission about his studies.

"Your suitemates know the situation better than I do. It's not good if you were paying more attention to your social life when you were with her than to your studies. If I had it to do over again, I'd try not to be such a social animal at the Academy. I would have been a lot better off if I'd studied for every class the way I did for the ones I really liked. You know how we were forced into doing a little of everything on _Voyager_. We'd never have gotten home just on what I learned at the Academy. If not for people like B'Elanna, and the captain, and Seven - and you - I'm willing to bet we'd still be wandering through Hirogen territory."

"What a nice thing to say," B'Elanna commented as she entered the living area. "So, Icheb, are you here tonight because you need advice from Mr. Lonelyhearts here?"

Icheb laughed and admitted, "I did need advice from 'Mr. Lonelyhearts,' and he's given it to me. I broke up . . . well, the truth is, I was dumped by my girlfriend. The odd thing is, I don't think I'm really all that upset about it now."

B'Elanna sat down next to Tom and said, "Then you'll be okay. You're not a loner, are you? You have friends at the Academy?"

"My suitemates are great."

"I never made it all the way through, you know. I dropped out in my second year."

"Professor Chapman mentioned that. He was sorry when you did, B'Elanna."

"I know. I've spoken to him since we've been back. He examined me and gave me passing grades in every Engineering course he teaches. He helped me qualify for my unofficial-official graduation from the Academy - based on time served in the Delta Quadrant, I think. A lot like what happened to Tom when he had his Out-Mate Review from Auckland." She looked over at Tom and smiled so sweetly, Icheb got the idea it might be time for him to leave them to their own company for the rest of the evening.

Tom confirmed this impression by his next comment. "B'Elanna, do you have any advice for our not-so-lovelorn Cadet Hansen so he can slip into his suite before curfew?"

"Only that Academy romances are often pretty shallow, no matter how hot and heavy they may get. I know that from experience, thanks to Max Burke. He called me B.L.T. and thought I'd be flattered. Honestly, I never did like it that much. And then, when we met up again . . . grrrrr."

"I guess I'm glad I had the 'hot and heavy' experience, but I think I'll be better off sticking with my studies until I've graduated and established myself as an officer."

"That may be a good idea," Tom said, putting his arm around his wife's shoulders as they walked Icheb to the apartment door. "However - you know there had to be a 'however' in there, right? Maybe the best way to look at it is to have fun with your friends, but until you find the person you really can't live without, don't try to plan out your life. To quote your Mom, 'It's inefficient.' B'Elanna and I never met in the Maquis, even though we were nominally in the same cell, but despite incarcerations and getting thrown 70,000 light years away from home, we found each other. When the time is right, you'll find the person you were meant to love. Don't rush it."

As he left his friends' apartment building and walked to the transit station to transport back to campus, Icheb found himself thinking Seven and Chakotay. Like Tom and B'Elanna, they'd met on _Voyager_. But whenever Icheb observed Tom and B'Elanna together, he could tell how much they loved one another. It may have taken years before they admitted their feelings to each other, but once they did, they were "all in," as Austin would say.

Seven's romance with Chakotay was nothing like Tom and B'Elanna's. Perhaps if they'd also had years for their love to grow in the limited environment of _Voyager,_ traveling through the Delta Quadrant, the pair might have formed a very strong bond with one another. Now that they were on Earth, Seven and Chakotay didn't seem to be growing closer to each other. Every time he saw them together, the cracks in their relationship were clearer to see. Any day, Icheb was sure he'd hear that it was over between them.

Maybe he wasn't assessing things clearly. He'd never been in favor of Seven and Chakotay's relationship. He'd never understood how they became lovers in the first place, since their personalities were so different. While Tom and B'Elanna had made their very different personalities work for them, Icheb didn't expect this to happen with Seven and Chakotay.

If they did go their separate ways, Icheb hoped they would find a way to remain friends. While Icheb wanted this for the sake of the entire _Voyager_ family, he also had to admit he hoped this for himself. Seven would take the end of this romance very hard. Losing her lover would bring her pain which Icheb didn't want to see her suffer; and Icheb had no illusions that it would be easy on Chakotay, either.

=/\=


	61. Messages from Mezoti

**=/\=**

 _ **Stardate 55324.5**_

 _ **Masseni came to call today and delivered wonderful news to us from Neelix. Voyager arrived home several months ago. Almost everyone is well. Most of his news was good, but there was some sad news. Lieutenant Carey was killed just a few weeks before Neelix found the Talaxian colony where he now lives. He said he was sorry he did not tell me about Lieutenant Carey before, but he didn't want to upset me in his first message.**_

 _ **He had more good news. He and Dexa are married. Brax is fond of his "new dad," which I was pleased to hear. They are a very happy family. Brax loves the idea of becoming my penpal. He sent me his own message about his life in the asteroid. I'm preparing a message to send to Brax, too.**_

 _ **The best news of all, as far as I am concerned, is that Neelix sent along the schematics for a powerful communication system that will allow us to communicate directly with each other for a limited part of every day, if it's set up properly,. It involves bouncing the signal in a certain way off quantum singularities. Arebi examined the schematics, and he confirmed that Wysanti technology should be able to handle the construction of this device. It won't be quite like speaking over subspace, but it's better than having to wait for months to share news. And maybe Brax and I could be datastream pals. That would be better than just pen pals.**_

 _ **Arebi believes this communication technology will be of interest to Devoren Marin and the rest of the leadership. Masseni confirmed that he was authorized to deliver the same set of instructions to the Antareans. Apparently the leadership of the Federation wants to strengthen ties between the peoples of the Alpha Quadrant and the Delta Quadrant, like the Wysanti, and Ambassador O'Zaal's planet. Captain Janeway may have convinced them to share this technology, or perhaps Seven and Icheb had something to do with it. I would like to think so.**_

 _ **Neelix inquired if we have had any former Borg drones come to the Wysanti world for help, because many have been coming to planets in the sector where he now lives. He sent this as a warning, but since we've already had Borg Resistance ships land here, it wasn't necessary. The reply I prepared after the first group arrived, after we met with Captain Korok, already includes this information.**_

 _ **Masseni said he's sorry we won't need him to exchange messages with Neelix once our version of the Pathfinder network is operational, but Arebi told him he was welcome to come visit whenever he wishes. We're grateful for his help. Just by delivering the schematics and instructions on how to build the device, he has provided a great service to us. Arebi looked at me then and added, "Who knows? Perhaps someone from here will want to go on a trading trip with you someday." I'm glad that my foster parents understand now. They say I remind them of their lost daughter Barini, Azan and Rebi's mother. I know they loved her very much, and they've taken very good care of me. But I'm not Barini.**_

 **=/\=**

On Stardate 55410, Icheb received a message from Admiral Paris.

 _:::Icheb, I have what I hope will be a pleasant surprise for you. Several months ago, Ambassador Neelix told me he'd met a Norvalen trader named Masseni, who sometimes visited the Wysanti. This trader agreed to deliver messages between Talax II and your sister Mezoti. Neelix didn't want me to say anything about this to you or Seven until he'd received a reply from Mezoti, in case something happened and the message exchange couldn't take place._

 _:::As you will see when you read the messages, she actually sent two of them to Neelix, but she left instructions to share them with you, too. One message was marked private and is addressed to you. I haven't read that one, since it's just for you, but the others contain information that will, I'm sure, be just as interesting for you to read as they were for me._ _She's quite remarkable._ _My son has told me you're very attached to her. I can see why._ _If she has any interesting details from your letter that you'd be willing to share with me, I'd be glad to hear them._ _I'm quite impressed with her._ _Enjoy!_

 _:::Admiral Owen Paris, Director, Project Pathfinder_

=/\=

Icheb was stunned. Contact with his sister? To be able to exchange messages with her? Perhaps he shouldn't be that surprised. The datastream system had been operational even before the five Borg children arrived on _Voyager_. He'd been able to speak with Neelix through Project Watson since the return to the Alpha Quadrant. He'd even been able to view Neelix and Dexa's wedding ceremony. And now, thanks to the same technology, he would be able to exchange messages with Mezoti. He quickly opened the first message by date and was delighted to discover it was a visual recording.

 _ **:::Stardate 55233.8**_

 _ **:::Dear Neelix, Greetings!**_

 _ **:::I am recording this message to let you know that former Borg have been arriving on Wysanti over the past several weeks. They're all like our Children's Collective and Seven. They've been disconnected from the Queen's control and are individuals now. The drones said they were freed from the Collective after Captain Janeway's Unimatrix Zero action. Many have been very ill. Failing implants were poisoning their Borg systems. The nanoprobes in their bodies were unable to keep up with the healing process.**_

 _ **::: I recalled that our EMH left detailed directions with the physicians who care for Rebi, Azan, and me, on how to evaluate the functioning of our implants and when to remove them if they are not. He also gave the physicians information about modifying malfunctioning nanoprobes, and how to disable the "drone making function." The hospital staff reports that the procedure to disable the assimilation tubules is something every drone has asked to be done as soon as possible, even before they are fully healed from injuries. They say they don't want to assimilate anyone ever again.**_

 _ **:::Since the first Borg vessels entered orbit, eleven others have arrived. Once their crews recovered, their ships gathered in an unpopulated system nearby. They've expressed no desire to resume any sort of collective mind. In fact, all are quite happy with their individuality. Several of the ships are under the direction of Captain Korok. Do you remember him? We met him on Voyager, when he came to speak with us. They left today to look for other Borg ships, whether they are connected to the Hive or not.**_

 _ **:::We also wish to let you know that a large number of fields of debris, like the one Voyager passed by on its way to Wysanti, have been discovered by the former Borg and other space travelers who have visited this planet. The only Borg ships that we know are intact are controlled by the Borg Resistance. We believe the Collective has suffered some sort of catastrophe that has killed many of its drones. Since you say you are in contact with the Federation, you should let them know about this situation. Perhaps they can let you know if the same thing has been happening in the Alpha Quadrant.**_

 _ **:::I must confess I've often had misgivings about remaining on Wysanti since I left Voyager. Arebi and Mazani are extremely good to me, but I miss Seven and Icheb. I find my life experience has been too different from others my age for my contemporaries to relate to me or understand me. I continue to be the outsider. I notice this more because Naomi accepted me from the beginning and made me her friend as soon as I arrived on Voyager. While Azan and Rebi are also outsiders, they play sports and have teammates. They have adjusted to life here with their grandparents, since they are best friends with each other. On a planet full of people, I find I am lonely. Mazani and Arebi care for me very much, and they try to help, but I know now that I really was meant to live my life in space.**_

 _ **:::If the Federation establishes a method of direct communication that would extend between Talax II and Wysanti, I would like you to ask if you can share this knowledge with us. I would find it much easier living here if I could speak with you directly. It would also help the Wysanti. This planet is a little out of the way of other space-faring species. My visits to the former Borg when they were treated in Wysanti hospitals were as good for me as they were for them. Because I was here, I could be of service to the former Borg. This has made me feel a little better about choosing to remain here, but I do wish I could see you all again.**_

 _ **::: I will continue to add to this message until Masseni comes to take the message to you, Neelix. So far, of the 497 former drones who have come here for treatment, 478 have survived. I will update these numbers and report them whenever I have the opportunity.**_

 _ **:::I hope this communication finds you well. I long to hear from you and see you again.**_

 _ **::: Your friend, Mezoti (Please share this message with Seven and Icheb, if you can.):::**_

 _ **=/\=**_

 _ **::: Star Date 55325.4 -**_

 _ **:::Dear Neelix,**_

 _ **:::I was so happy to hear you are married to Dexa. Brax is very lucky to have you for a father. Naomi always said how good you were to her. I'm glad you found your people, and they accepted you as one of them. The Talaxians must be wiser than the Norcadi.**_

 _ **:::Masseni came to us with your message and with the schematics for Project Watson. As you can see from the message I recorded for you some time ago, the Wysanti have had the same experience with the Borg Resistance Movement that you mentioned. When Captain Korok visited our planet, he told us the same thing. None of the scout ships or spheres that have come to Wysanti as of this time have encountered any Borg vessels which are still connected to the Queen; but until they are sure none are left to threaten any of us, the Resistance will continue to be vigilant.**_

 _ **:::This message may turn out to be a duplicate, if we are able to use Project Watson before Masseni returns to Talax II. Masseni has become our friend, and we will look forward to his visits even if he no longer has to perform a messenger service between us. I enjoyed seeing Brax's message. I do want to be his penpal. I've sent him a letter along with this one to you. If the Project Watson system works, however, we will be better than penpals. We'll be datastream pals. We may be able to speak with each other for a little while on days when the Wysanti leaders don't need to use all the time to communicate with you and those on other planets. I hope I will get a chance to speak directly with Brax sometimes. That would be fun.**_

 _ **:::I'm also glad you'll to be able to forward my messages to the Alpha Quadrant, to Seven and Icheb. I never expected I would be able communicate with them so directly ever again. If the datastream works as it should, we'll be able to send replies within days of receiving messages from each other. I can't tell you just how happy it makes me to learn that.**_

 _ **:::Your news about Lieutenant Carey is very sad. I was having a very difficult time when I received your first message. You were wise not to give me the bad news then. It would have upset me even more then than it does now.**_

 _ **:::I'm very glad you decided to stay in the Delta Quadrant, too. It's good to know I still have friends here who know me from my days on Voyager. Maybe someday I'll even be able to visit you on Talax II. I hope so.**_

 _ **:::Mezoti (Share this message with Seven and Icheb, too):::**_

When Icheb first caught sight of Mezoti's face as she delivered these first two messages to Neelix, he again felt the stabbing pain of loss. She should be here with Seven and him, not far away, with Azan and Rebi. She'd found a way to be of service by helping the Borg who had come to Wysanti for medical care, but it saddened him, just the same. Seeing her face and hearing her voice reminded him, even more than his memories, of how difficult their separation had been. He missed her more than ever. He should have tried harder to convince her to stay on _Voyager_. When he viewed her personal letter to him, he was able to see, from the way she stared into the imaging mechanism, along with the occasional catch he detected in her voice, that his little sister felt the same way.

 _ **:::Dear Icheb,**_

 _ **:::Isn't it amazing? We'll be able to communicate with each other. It seems too good to be true. I'm glad you'll soon be able to tell me how you're doing at the Academy. I know it's what you wanted. I hope it's all you expected it to be.**_

 _ **:::It's difficult for me here, even after all of this time. Perhaps the Norcadi are closer in personality to humans and Bajorans than they are to Wysanti, because I always enjoyed my visits with the crew when I was living on Voyager. Maybe it was because they all had been traveling together for such a long time, far away from their family and friends. They made us feel welcome, didn't they? My teachers and many of the people I've met here have been cordial to me, but I've never been able to get over my feeling of being different. They're nice, but only Arebi and Mazani have made me feel like they truly care about me and want me to live on their planet forever.**_

 _ **::: My life as a Borg, even though I was never more than a neonatal drone, may have ruined me for life on a planet like this. When I saw Captain Korok coming towards me - I guess I should call him General Korok now, because that's how the drones on his ship call him - after I'd only been with him for a few minutes on the day he visited us, I felt like I'd always known him. It was the same with the drones I visited in the hospital. We shared an experience as Borg that I think frightens the Wysanti people I meet. I guess it would have been worse if I'd been taken back to my home planet. They only wanted to forget me when Captain Janeway asked them to find a family I could live with there.**_

 _ **:::Azan and Rebi are still Azan and Rebi, if you know what I mean. They don't appreciate how wonderful their grandparents really are. I think they take them for granted. I don't, but as much as I'd like to be like Mazani and Arebi's daughter Barini, I can't be. I'm me, Mezoti. Their daughter was a very lucky female to have them as parents. I'm lucky they fostered me. They truly do accept me, but I find I can't be their daughter in the same way I was your sister.**_

 _ **:::You were right. You told me I could stay with Seven and you. I should have changed my mind and stayed on Voyager. If I could have looked into the future, I would have. Now I must live with the consequences. Since I will now be able to communicate with Seven and with you, perhaps I'll be able to live with those consequences better than I have up to now. I made a mistake coming here, but at least we'll be able to share a little of our lives through the Project Pathfinder technology.**_

 _ **:::But don't you make the mistake of thinking I'm better off here. I'm not. Please never forget me. I should be with you and Seven. Mazani and Arebi told me that if you do ever come back to take me away with you, they won't stop you. They see how it is with me. We all know where my true family lives. I would love to be able to be with you again.**_

 _ **:::I will send messages to you through Neelix whenever I have news. You may be hearing from me very often! If you get the chance, please send me your news, too. Let me see your face and hear your voice . It will please me very much.**_

 _ **:::Write soon.**_

 _ **:::Your sister, Mezoti:::**_

=/\=

Icheb listened to his messages three times in rapid succession. After the third viewing, he had to leave for Professor Reagan's Astrophysics class, but when he came home for lunch, he watched them again. Before leaving for his next class, Icheb backed them up on one of his PADDs. Afterwards, he jotted down a few notes on what he wanted say about his life at the Academy when he replied to her. Perhaps he would introduce Verit, Austin, and Farys to her, too. He could invite Naomi to participate. But maybe he should contact Seven first, to decide if they should each send a communication to Mezoti, or would she be happier hearing from both of them in the same message? He mustn't forget to send a thank you to Neelix for finding this Masseni person. And he should remember to thank Admiral Paris and Reg Barclay, too, because of inventing Project Watson so they could correspond . . .

Icheb caught his breath. He realized he was spinning in too many directions all at once in his excitement over seeing Mezoti again. He told himself to calm down and deliberately plan out everything, so their communications would proceed in as efficient a manner as possible.

He'd lost his sister. He needed to keep her close in some way; and for the time being, these messages would have to do. Once he was commissioned as a Starfleet officer, however, he resolved to volunteer for any mission that would bring him into the Delta Quadrant. Icheb had to see Mezoti again in person, even if he had to travel for years to get to Wysanti to do it.

=/\=


	62. Letter Exchange

=/\=

 _Stardate 55414.7 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _We sent our first messages to Mezoti this afternoon. In the end, Seven and I decided to record one message together, and then each of us made an individual one for her. We became very emotional, especially when we were delivering our individual messages. We did our best to control ourselves better when the others came to the house. We invited Naomi and her parents to Seven's cottage and recorded another one with all of us together. Naomi introduced her father to Mezoti and promised to send her own letters regularly, too._

 _Naomi's father only knows Mezoti from the stories Naomi has shared with him and from the messages he had the opportunity to view with us before we recorded our replies. "I know what it's like to be separated from the important people in your life. I'm honored you allowed me to share this experience with you." He told me that Naomi and Sam both cried when they heard about the message relay; then he laughed when he confided that Naomi was going to record a separate message for Neelix, scolding him for not telling her about his contact with her friend before this. He said Naomi also plans to ask Brax if she can become his datastream pal, too._

 _The more I see of "Gres," which is the way he says I should address him, the more I like him. From what I can see, Naomi has finally gotten used to sharing her mom with her dad . When we finished recording our group letter, she gave him a hug even before she hugged Sam._

 _Captain Janeway told us she would send Mezoti a separate message, since she's visiting her mother in Indiana right now. Chakotay wasn't here, either. He's off-planet for a week to attend a symposium about rehabilitating the colony worlds, such as Dorvan, which still need help restoring their environments from the damage inflicted by Cardassian attacks. I can't say I missed him. Seven seems much more relaxed when he's not around._

 _When I returned to my suite in Archer Hall, I recorded the short thank you letters I'd planned to send to Neelix, Admiral Paris, and Lieutenant Commander Barclay (he was just promoted because of his work on Project Pathfinder - it's about time!). I also prepared one for Masseni, the Norvalen trader whose willingness to provide a "messenger service" has made all of this possible. I don't actually know him yet, but I think he must be a very good person because of what he's done for Neelix and Mezoti. Although Azan and Rebi didn't appear in Mezoti's message, I included a short one to be sent through the datastream to the two of them, too._

 _Then I prepared one last communication for Mezoti, introducing her to my suitemates. Austin told her that if she ever comes to Earth, she must visit him in Texas! Farys was her usual friendly self, too; but I was most moved by what Verit had to say. She told Mezoti, "Your brother is a valued friend to all of us, but especially to me. He has praised you on many occasions. Because of the affection he expresses towards you, I know you must be someone I would wish to know. I would also like to become one of your 'datastream friends.' "_

 _Of course, I'd mentioned Mezoti to my suitemates from time to time. When I showed them Mezoti's messages for the first time, however, I couldn't hold back my tears. They knew I hadn't wanted her to leave Voyager, but I'd never wanted to burden them with the knowledge of just how painful her absence has been for me to endure. I spent hours telling them stories about Mezoti which I'd never shared before. They kept encouraging me to tell them more about her. They understand how I feel about her now. I am so grateful to have them as my friends._

 _I've decided that I will keep track of things that happen to me so I can send them to Mezoti from time to time. I've also asked the Doctor if he would accompany me and record a tour of the Academy grounds so she'll know what it looks like. I also asked him if he'd go with me on visits with Voyager crew members like Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry, so they can send her greetings, too. He was eager to begin immediately, but he wasn't shy about expressing his resentment that I'd failed to invite him to Seven's house for the first group message for Mezoti. I explained that we didn't want to overwhelm her with too many people at first. I think that placated him a little, but I know I'll definitely have to invite him to be part of the next set of messages. He'll never forgive me if I don't._

 _I'm looking forward to exchanging letters with Mezoti from now on, but if I'm honest with myself, I know this will only help me so much. I still miss her terribly._

=/\=


	63. Return of a Borrowed Item

=/\=

When Icheb entered his suite, he felt a little bereft. That morning he'd said good-bye to Farys and Austin. His suitemates were scheduled to go on their field study placements this summer. Farys and Austin were both spending short vacations with their families before going to their assignments. Verit was leaving for hers at a space station near Vulcan. She would take her vacation after her field placement had ended. Since Icheb had been credited with this course because of his year and a half of service on _Voyager_ , Icheb would be alone in the suite until the beginning of September.

He was afraid he'd missed Verit, too, but when he heard a muffled Vulcan phrase that she would never have uttered if she'd known he was in the suite, he made a show of calling out to her, "Hey, are you still here, Verit?"

"Yes," she shouted back.

Icheb tossed the PADD he was carrying on the table. When he reached the vestibule outside her room, he knocked to let her know he was there. She called out for him to enter.

On the rare occasions that Icheb had been able to glance inside Verit's room, he'd been impressed by how immaculately clean and well-organized it was. Not today. Several storage crates and a regulation duffel bag were stacked in the center of the room. Heaps of clothing were jumbled on top of her bunk. Her desk was littered with PADDs and paper books she'd taken down from the shelving above it. The drawers and doors of her storage wall gaped open, with the objects she'd pulled out of them sitting on the floor. Some items related to others were in piles, suggesting she'd made an effort to organize her things, but clearly, the job was beginning to overwhelm her.

"Verit, you don't have to pack everything, you know. We've all been assigned to the same rooms for the fall session."

She looked askance at him, with her hair poking up from behind her ears in an uncharacteristic manner. As she straightened her back and assumed a more erect posture, she slipped her hands over her head in a futile attempt to flatten the errant strands. "I am aware we are all scheduled to occupy this suite, but my presence may not be . . . assured"

Icheb took a step backward. "You're not thinking of withdrawing from the Academy, are you?"

"I do not plan to withdraw, no. However, there are certain imperatives involved for members of my race, of which you are not aware. If these conditions arise, I may not be able to return to the Academy for the fall semester. In that case, this room may be reassigned."

"I hope those . . . conditions . . . won't arise then. Yet. I mean . . . well, I hope you'll be back . . . when scheduled."

The more Icheb stumbled over his words, the harder Verit stared at him. When he paused awkwardly, not knowing what else, or even if, he should continue speaking, she sighed visibly and stated, "There were Vulcans serving with you on _Voyager._ Obviously."

"You know my first tutor was Commander Tuvok. And I worked in Engineering with Ensign Vorik. There was a female named Ensign Terrin, and, well, you realize that _Voyager_ was traveling through the Delta Quadrant for seven years, so . . . "

"And it was, if I recall what you've said on multiple occasions, a 'small ship.'"

"It was. I know of at least two cases during the ship's journey. One was diagnosed after I became Commander Tuvok's student. Tom Paris told me Tuvok had Tarkalean Flu, but I wasn't satisfied with that explanation. I couldn't see how he could've been exposed to that illness, so I researched his symptoms and discovered . . . more than I'd expected to find." He stopped then, unsure of what more he could say, but then added simply, "I know you don't like to talk about this."

Clearing a couple of PADDs from her desk chair, Verit pointed to it, indicating that Icheb should take that seat, while she moved enough of her clothing from one corner of her bunk to make room for herself. "I don't know why I continue speaking in vague terms about such things around you, Icheb. You are well informed about my culture. Many are curious, but only the perceptive few who have spent significant time with Vulcans, as you did on _Voyager,_ are as familiar with our customs as you, and you are circumspect about sensitive subjects. I find that is rare for a human."

Icheb arched his eyebrow and smiled slightly. "Perhaps that is because I'm not human."

Her eyebrow flicked upward, displaying that slight sign of amusement she permitted herself. "Of course. I stand corrected. Perhaps that is why we get along so well. Both of us are outsiders on this world, even though your adoptive mother is human . . . and Borg. As you were Borg, to a degree at least - if my recollections of what you told us about yourself on your first day here are accurate. If my next question makes you uncomfortable in any way, feel free to refuse to respond, but are the Brunali similar to humans in personality?"

Icheb stopped to ponder her question for a long moment. He could not say he was upset by the question, but it wasn't an easy one for him to answer. He finally decided the appropriate response was exactly that. "I've asked myself the same thing many times, Verit. I have few memories of my life on Brunal. What I do remember is tainted by the way my parents treated me. From the little I observed then, however, I would say they act more like humans than they do Vulcans . . . or Klingons. But there's so much variation between individual members of any given race, comparing two different species is difficult. I don't know if I've ever completely forgiven my parents for what they did to me, yet I've benefitted from it in ways they never anticipated. I realize I'm better off here, on Earth, than I ever would have been on my native planet."

He paused, shaking his head in confusion. "I don't know, Verit. Am I making any sense at all?"

"You are, Icheb. While my question was well-meant, it was impertinent, even rude. Please forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive. I'm still trying to understand all that's happened to me. I may never be able to." After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Icheb asked her, "Is there anything I can do to help you pack? Perhaps we can set certain things aside, to keep in storage, so if the time for your marriage to be fulfilled arrives and delays your return to the Academy, we can ship them to you. Or you can pick them up whenever you do return."

She nodded. "Both are logical suggestions. I find I've collected many material objects which are not essential to my daily life, although I'm not yet prepared to part with them permanently. Placing them in storage here would be advisable. I know I will return to the Academy at some point, even if it is not in the fall. I welcome any assistance you are willing to provide me. My transport is scheduled to leave Earth orbit at 2130 hours."

At her direction, he placed most of her PADDs and books in one of the storage crates, earmarked for storage on Earth, while others were placed in the same duffel bag with her uniforms, boots, and personal items. She planned to bring these with her on her field placement. Icheb also took the time to carefully fit her meditation lamp and its supply of oil inside the metal case designed to transport it safely from one location to another. Verit packed most of her casual clothing, along with many other items, in luggage to be sent ahead to her family's home on Vulcan. A couple of crates were filled with objects she'd collected during her stay on Earth, including interesting specimens and testing equipment which she would not need this summer. The laboratory to which she'd been assigned would be fully equipped. Icheb offered to store those in the upper level storage cabinets in his room, since several of his were still empty.

In a very short time, with the exception of a few objects resting on her desk, the chamber again looked like Verit's room, perfectly neat and organized.

Pointing to the desk, Icheb said, "Verit, you haven't told me what to do with these two PADDs."

"One of those PADDs is not mine. Don't you recognize it?"

He smiled as he picked up the PADD he'd lent her for her research project. "I'd forgotten all about that. Was it helpful?"

"Very. Your records of the Hirogen and Norcadi genomes were especially useful." She picked up the other PADD and slipped it inside her duffel. After she'd tucked it away, however, her gaze did not return to him immediately. This was strange behavior for her. Verit was always forthright in the way she interacted with her companions.

"Is something wrong, Verit?"

She opened her mouth as if to speak, closed it again, and only then made eye contact with him. "I appreciate the fact you trusted me with that PADD, but I'm not sure you meant to lend that one to me."

Puzzled, Icheb consulted the content listing. It contained the data he meant to share with her. Then he looked further down the list and noticed the files identified only by stardates. Opening one of them, he realized exactly which experiments these files documented. After closing that one, he opened another, and there it was: his final formula for the serum, the one he'd followed on that momentous day he'd prepared three hyposprays, the second destined for himself, which he'd delivered to Captain Janeway. As he stared at the formula, a stray thought struck him. He'd never asked the captain what she'd done with the two extra hypos, which turned out to be unnecessary. She might have administered one of them to herself, "just in case." He wouldn't be surprised if she had.

He looked up and saw Verit examining him closely. He smiled slightly, unconsciously mimicking one of Captain Janeway's frequent expressions. "You're right. I probably shouldn't have shared this particular one without checking all of its contents. I'm not sorry you know. I'm sure you do, or you wouldn't be looking at me like that right now."

Verit looked away, with her own mouth pursed as if she was trying to suppress the very inappropriate expression - for a Vulcan - of a smile. She was in full command of her mouth when she met his eyes again. "It's a formula for a serum based upon a specific genome. Yours. I compared it with the sample you gave me that day. It isn't exactly the same though, is it?"

"No. It's one I 'doctored up' to introduce 'order into chaos' when the Borg assimilated the person carrying it. I told you what my parents did. They made changes to my genome to turn me into a Brunali 'Typhoid Mary.' The drones who captured me placed me inside a maturation chamber. I was turned partially into a Borg before the chamber malfunctioned. I have no idea exactly how much time passed before the mechanism failed and ejected me onto the floor of our cube. It may have been weeks. Judging by the smell I detected from the dead drones throughout the cube, they had been dead for some time. Decomposition was well-advanced."

"I've heard rumors that you helped create a weapon to bring _Voyager_ home. Is this the weapon?"

"Yes. I experimented and found a way to make the pathogen it creates more virulent. We needed it to act more quickly if _Voyager_ was to be protected."

"You didn't give this serum to yourself. I compared it to the sample I took from you the day I borrowed this. I saw microgenetic alterations on the third and seventeenth chromosomes within the retrovirus you used for the delivery system. They're not the same as in the sample's."

"Correct. Those were the changes I made on my own, so the pathogen would create the chaos effect more quickly. My parents also made a change on my thirteenth chromosome, but you couldn't detect it without having another Brunali sample. I didn't have to modify that one."

"So someone else delivered the pathogen to the Borg?"

Icheb nodded in the affirmative.

"I've also heard a rumor about a temporal incident. Did one occur? If so, was this how _Voyager_ could travel through the Borg transwarp conduits safely?"

After a short pause, he replied, "Yes - to all of your questions."

"That's not according to established protocols. While the principles of temporal mechanics have been identified, no one in the Federation is authorized to use them."

"Perhaps not, but it does happen. Lieutenant Paris believes we were allowed to do this by the Federation Temporal Police despite the protocols. We still don't know why."

"Federation Temporal Police? There is no such entity."

"There will be."

She stared at him. "So I take it this temporal incident involved someone who traveled from the future to our time?"

"Obviously. That person was the 'Sacrificial Lamb" who delivered the pathogen to the Borg."

"And time was changed. _Voyager_ came home earlier than it had in another timeline, but the person responsible is no longer part of this one. No longer alive. That is what you meant by saying the 'Sacrificial Lamb?'"

"This person had reasons to disregard the restrictions on time travel. One of them was that in that other timeline, I never sat with you in a suite like this. I never attended the Academy in person. We could never have become friends after that _Voyager_ returned to the Alpha Quadrant."

"I see. You died before that happened."

"My counterpart did," he corrected.

She glanced down at the PADD, which he still held in his hand. The file documenting his serum was still running on the screen. She nodded towards the PADD. "This modified genome was not included in my project. I thought it best not to refer to it in any way."

"Thank you. I'd prefer that Farys and Austin don't learn about it, either. They may hear rumors about time traveling, but the incident can remain a secret as long as no one officially confirms it happened. I believe that part may never be openly acknowledged."

"Icheb, when you told us your story on the first day you moved here, you concealed this."

"I did not. My story simply ended before my experiments began. Our guests were due to arrive. I was not for me to tell anyone else about what happened."

"A lie by omission is still a lie."

"Ah, but I didn't omit anything. Stories have an end point. The questions you had for me about what I remembered about my early life were answered, were they not?"

"You are splitting hairs, Icheb. However, I agree this subject is a delicate one. I'm pleased you trust me with the facts."

"It would be pointless to lie to you. You saw the evidence. You possess enough knowledge to know exactly what it means."

"True," she said. She reached down, picked up her packed duffel bag, and carried it into their main living room. Icheb followed with one of the storage crates he'd promised to store in his chamber. Within minutes, the room was devoid of any visual evidence that Verit had ever resided there. The one reminder was a faint whiff of the oil she used in her meditation lamp. Icheb hoped it would linger throughout the summer, to remind him of his friend.

Once all of Verit's luggage had been transferred into the living area, Verit referred once more to the events Icheb had finally revealed. "This person who sacrificed herself. I take it she was . . . very high up on the roster of _Voyager_ . . . in both timestreams?"

"It is not for me to confirm nor deny," Icheb said, very aware that she'd correctly identified the gender of the Sacrificial Lamb.

Verit nodded gravely, acknowledging his prevarication, but all she said was, "Then I must look forward to the day when your role is acknowledged by officials authorized to reveal it, whether the Borg's destruction proves to be complete and permanent, or only offers a temporary respite from their depredations against the individuals of the galaxy. Although the person who sacrificed herself may never be openly identified, I will honor her memory nonetheless."

"As do I," he replied. Icheb had to admire the subtlety of Verit's response. She'd clearly figured out who that person was. Verit made a logical deduction; and logic, as Icheb well knew, was as fundamental a concept for Vulcans as efficiency was to the Borg.

And, to his immense relief, Vulcans were also justly renowned for their ability to keep a secret.

=/\=


	64. Celebrations

=/\=

 _:::Stardate 55457. 3_

 _"Hello, Neelix! Happy Prixin, Dexa and Brax! We're here at my parents' house to celebrate the holiday you brought to all of us! Miral, honey, wave to the Doctor so he can take your picture to send to Uncle Neelix. That's it! Mom, Dad, you're hosting this party! Why don't you come on over here and wave hello to our friends on Talax II!"_

 _"Hello, Ambassador. As you can see, my son and all of his friends from told us about the holiday you always celebrated on Talax and on Voyager. We decided to throw a party to commemorate the day here, too. Captains Janeway and Chakotay are co-hosting it with us. Your Doctor is taking these images so we can send them to you in tonight's datastream. Doctor, why don't you turn your imager towards yourself so you can send our friends on Talax II your holiday wishes."_

 _"Thank you, Admiral, I will. (Dizzying spin, ending upon the smiling face of the EMH) There we go. Hello, there, Neelix. I hope your whole family is watching this with you. Dexa, how are you feeling? Is your pregnancy progressing well?"_

 _(husky groan from out of the picture)"Doctor, please! No diagnostic interviews today. We're here to have fun."_

 _"Oh, yes. Sorry about that. Captain Janeway is right. I'll have to submerge my curiosity about Talaxian pregnancy symptoms for the time being. But Dexa, expect a message from me in tomorrow's datastream. Now, where were we? Oh, yes. Let me introduce my friend Miranda Hendrickson. She's an opera singer. Say hello to Neelix and his family, dear."_

 _(rapid swing from the Doctor's face to that of a very beautiful, very blonde human woman) "Hello, Neelix! Hello, family! I hope you're having a wonderful holiday. Do you say, 'Merry Prixin?' or just 'Happy Holidays'? (prolonged pause) . . . Darling, I haven't the faintest idea what else to say!"_

 _"You did just fine, Miranda."_

 _"Hey, Doc, point that thing back over here so the rest of us can get into the picture, huh?"_

 _"I was only following your father's directions to the letter, Mr. Paris. Can't you see that? However (view swings back to a group of Voyager crew), here's our merry little group. We invited all of the Voyager crew still in the Sol System, but not everyone could come. Harry? Seven? Tell Neelix how your Delta Flyer Project is going."_

 _"Doc, you should ask Tom and B'Elanna about that. They're leading that project now, remember?"_

 _"Oh, yes. Thank you, Lieutenant Kim. That probably_ _ **would**_ _be a more politically correct thing to do . . . "_

 _"Doc! Skip the sarcasm and just record . . ."_

Icheb sighed deeply and shook his head as he paused the recording they'd sent to Talax II in last night's datastream. "I thought the Doctor was only supposed to _record_ the party, not monopolize the whole thing."

"In the old 2D cinema days, they had a person called an editor who clipped out the best bits of film and patched everything together to make a movie. I wish we had someone like that we could call in today." Tom began to laugh. "Honestly, Icheb, you can't be surprised. Look how he narrated the entire 'Tour of Starfleet Academy' recording you made for Mezoti. He barely let you get a word in edgewise. Even when you ran into Professor Reagan, he took the introduction away from you. And he didn't let Reagan say very much, either."

Icheb shrugged, a rueful grin on his face. "You're right. I guess I forget what he's like when I don't see him for a while."

"Either that, or you're fiercely repressing the memory."

Icheb laughed along with Tom before they resumed viewing the very Doctor-centric recording of their Prixin party. Even the Doctor couldn't completely ruin the collection of images that would preserve the event for everyone who attended, however. The Doctor, true to his word, had sent a copy of his opus to everyone who was there, as well as some who couldn't make it to the admiral's home that day. When they reached the end of what amounted to a love-letter from all of Neelix's friends from _Voyager_ to their one-time chief cook and morale officer, Icheb said, "Once he got out of his own way and just let everyone speak for themselves, he did a nice job with this recording, Tom."

"I thought so, too. When B'Elanna and I watched it last night, she sniffed away a few tears when the captain started talking about how the crew is scattering every which way. She's upset at the way _Voyager_ has been dissected by the engineers at Utopia Planitia. She's afraid everyone in her department will have left for other posts before we're able to get back on board."

"Do you honestly think they'll ever let her fly again, Tom? I know Starfleet wanted to study all the improvements, but I've heard a couple of professors say the only time they'll let you take the helm again will be to park _Voyager_ on the Presidio so they can turn it into a museum."

"I've heard those rumors, too. According to Dad, there's a lot of controversy about turning the ship into a museum. Captain Janeway is adamantly against the plan, although she won't tell anyone why. B'Elanna's heard they've taken all of the Borg and Admiral Janeway additions apart to study them. She's afraid they'll never put everything back together right. I don't think they _will_ be able to, unless B'Elanna, Seven, and Harry are there to tell them what to do. I think that may be why the Utopia Planitia people want her to visit next week. They say it's to answer questions about how she kept the ship running for seven years without ever pulling into a Starfleet dock for repairs or systems upgrades."

"A lot of hard work!"

"You can say that again."

"Seven told me she's been asked to go up to Utopia Planitia with B'Elanna and Harry for those meetings. Why didn't they invite you, Tom?"

"Well, besides needing to be here to take care of my daughter and ride herd on the Delta Flyer Project staff, I'm not an expert on _Voyager's_ systems. I helped out whenever we had to make repairs, just like you, but that was under B'Elanna's direction. If they need me to explain anything about the _Delta Flyer_ , I'm their man. But hey, that's why I've got the job I have right now."

"Yeah, I can understand that. How much longer is that project going to last? You were able to build the _Delta Flyer II_ in a couple of weeks after the original was destroyed by the Borg. Why is it taking so long now?"

"Icheb, have you heard the old Earth expression, 'Too many cooks spoil the broth'? That's why. We have all of these engineering gurus wanting reports every few minutes about what we're doing. We have Harry writing them up, but that takes time away from the project as a whole. And then the bigwigs got the bright idea to include the Folding Space technology into the shuttle, along with the standard warp and impulse drives. We've actually figured out where we're going to fit that in, but, and here's the really big 'but': the propulsion geniuses - or is that genii? - anyway, the propulsion experts still have a teensy-weensy bit of work figuring out that technology. They say they've got the basic science worked out, but they haven't been able to build a working model of the drive yet. Until they do, we can't put it into the Delta Flyer shuttles, can we?"

"In other words, it's a bureaucratic mess."

"Icheb, you're catching on. I'm proud of you, my boy." Tom's grin was infectious. Icheb still looked up to Tom when the subject had anything at all to do with flying or navigation. He knew how lucky he was that Tom had been his tutor. Icheb qualified to fly shuttles at warp the first time he was tested, and Tom deserved much of the credit for his success.

"Well, Icheb, I guess I'd better get home. B'Elanna and Miral should be back from visiting Marla and Aimee by now. She'll be looking for me if I don't turn up soon. Before I go, though, how are you doing here in your suite all by your lonesome?"

"Lonely," Icheb said with a chuckle, although it wasn't really funny. "I'm glad I'm finally starting my summer classes this week."

"What are you taking?"

"I should have taken a Xenobiology class and a command track elective this past semester, but I was making up a couple of freshman courses I missed. I didn't have room in my schedule for everything, so I delayed these two until the summer session. They're more intense in the summer, because the session isn't as long as a normal semester. But since I'm alone here, I'll have plenty of time to study."

"Who do you have for Xenobiology?"

"Admiral Virdian. I understand he's excellent."

"He is. He began teaching here during my senior year. I'd already taken the courses he taught, so I never had him. Everyone who did said he was tough but fair. I hope that's still the case. I heard he was devastated when he lost his husband at Wolf 359."

"That happened years ago."

"Yes, it did, but that doesn't mean he's gotten over it yet. Some people never do get over a loss like that."

"For his sake, I hope he has," Icheb replied.

=/\=

 _Stardate 55552.7 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _We celebrated Naomi's sixth birthday at a party at the Wildman apartment this afternoon. It's hard to believe Naomi is only six. To look at her, anyone who didn't know her genetic history would presume she's at least thirteen. Since she's lived primarily with adults all her life, she acts older, too. She's very aware of this and always tries to act the part of a very mature adolescent. Every now and then, though, her true age peeks through._

 _There were a couple of actual children there. Miral is getting so cute. She's also walking, which B'Elanna says is scary. Klingons mature faster than most races other than Ktarians, but she thought that a three-quarters human, one-quarter Klingon might not. Those Klingon genes must be very powerful. Mrs. Paris told me Tom was walking "everywhere" at seven months of age, though, so Miral isn't that much more advanced in her development than her daddy was._

 _Aimee's a charmer. Although the Doctor has information about the two species which make up her genetics, no one really knows how that mix will work out. Aimee is probably the only child in the galaxy - make that the universe - from those particular genetic pools, since both races are so xenophobic. According to Mrs. Paris, Aimee seems to be developing at a fairly normal rate for a human child. Marla was glad to hear that, since Miral's rapid development was causing Marla to worry that Aimee's was a little slow. Mrs. Paris reassured her that Aimee's level of accomplishments seemed on par with that of both of her daughters when they were two years of age. She pointed out that boys tend to be much more physically active and often do things like sitting up and walking at slightly earlier ages. "But girls often learn to speak earlier," she noted. Aimee certainly isn't slow in that regard. She chatters away constantly, and you can actually understand about half of what she says. The other half, though -_ _ **she**_ _knows what she's saying, because when we ask her to repeat it, she says exactly the same thing. That doesn't mean we understand her the next time. Every now and then Marla is able to translate something because she's figured it out from earlier conversations with her daughter._

 _I must say, it makes me feel good every time I see Marla and Aimee together. Aimee really loves her mom - and vice versa!_

 _I wish my mom had come to the party. Seven had planned to, but then "something came up" at the last minute at the Delta Flyer Project that she "had to attend to." I think the "something" was another argument with Chakotay. He was there. Harry was, too, but without Libby. Harry made excuses for her, about how busy she's been with her volunteer work with the Dominion War Widow and Widower Foundation; but I think the real reason she didn't come was that she didn't expect it to be worth her while. She didn't know any admirals would be there, since Harry hadn't heard Admiral and Mrs. Paris were coming. If Libby had known that, I have no doubt she'd have been there, sitting right next to him, monopolizing the admiral's attention all night._

 _Captain Janeway came late to the party, but Admiral Paris and his wife were there when I arrived and were still there when I left. I was glad to have a chance to visit with Admiral Paris. I usually only see him at big affairs, when saying more than a couple of sentences is difficult, or when he's acting in his official capacity as the director of the Project Pathfinder Program. Today he sat down with me, and we had a very interesting chat._

 _I hadn't known that Admiral Paris had facilitated Gres' transfer to Earth, after Voyager's return. Gres had just accepted a position on Deep Space Nine, but once his wife and daughter were home, he needed to be with them. While Gres had some accumulated leave time, it ran out about a month after we came back. Sam and Naomi weren't ready to leave Earth yet. The Maquis situation was still up in the air, and Gres understood they wanted to remain until the status of their friends was announced. They thought they might need to testify in court, if anyone was indicted and put on trial. Naturally, he didn't want to go back to Deep Space Nine without them. He'd been without his wife for seven years, and he'd already missed too much of Naomi's childhood. He didn't know what to do, but Admiral Paris heard about his problem._

 _The admiral arranged for a "temporary replacement" for Gres on Deep Space Nine. Colonel Kira, the Bajoran commander of the station, understood Gres' dilemma, too. When Gres' replacement, Lieutenant Commander Chan, said she'd like to stay on Deep Space Nine permanently, Colonel Kira asked the admiral if an "arrangement" could be made to permit Chan to stay. The admiral accommodated the Bajoran commander by finding a post for Gres at Starfleet Headquarters. Needless to say, the Wildman family is very grateful to Tom's father. He told me it was "nothing" for him to do this, but it's made me see another side of the admiral. Tom's told me on several occasions that he gets along very well with his father now. The admiral is clearly ecstatic that his lost son has returned from the dead. Tom's personal evolution while under Captain Janeway's command has healed the rift between father and son._

 _The Doctor was there, too, with the woman he's been seeing lately. He met her at the opera. Miranda sings in the chorus with the San Francisco Opera Company. I'm not sure who suggested they perform a duet. I think it was the Doctor. After they sang together, Tom convinced Miranda to sing a solo. She really does have a beautiful voice. The Doctor was beaming at her while she sang. He also took images of her. Lots of images. And even more of everyone at the party. At one point, when he told Naomi to smile for the camera, she stuck out her tongue just as he snapped the picture. He wasn't pleased, but Naomi and I both thought it was a really funny image, so he wasn't allowed to erase it. He was gracious enough to send Gres and Sam copies of all the pictures he'd taken of the party._

 _After Naomi cut her birthday cake, Gres said they had something to tell us, and Sam announced she's pregnant again. While everyone was congratulating them, I took Naomi aside and asked if it bothered her that her future sibling had taken over part of her birthday celebration. She said it didn't. "What bothers me is that I'm going to be so much older than my brother or sister. We'll be different generations!"_

 _"Not for long, considering how fast your people grow up," I said. "Your sibling will be an adult, just like you, before you know it." Naomi laughed and admitted the truth of my comment, but it's still jarring for her. For so long, it was Naomi, her mom, Neelix, and the crew of Voyager. "I love my dad and we get along great now, but it's so different living here. I'm used to having lots of people to visit just down the corridor. I liked living in space," she told me._

 _"Like me," I replied._

 _Then she confided a "secret." She's taking the Starfleet Entrance Exam in August. I was shocked. I asked her if she was old enough, and she said that since she's Ktarian, she's allowed to take it after turning six. That doesn't mean she can enroll right away. "I might be able to next year, even before I'm seven. Early entrants from Ktaris must pass other assessments to show they're psychologically and physiologically ready, even if they pass the academic exam. They_ _ **might**_ _let me in for the spring session if I pass everything. If they don't let me matriculate as a full time student, I might be able to take some freshman classes for advanced placement. That way I'd be credited with some classes the same way you were."_

 _"You've barely had a chance to get to know your dad. Don't you think that's pushing it a little?"_

 _"Maybe, but that's why it doesn't bother me so much about the new baby. He'll be able to watch my brother or sister grow up in a way he didn't with me. And since they're both serving here at Headquarters, we'll be together a lot, even if I do move on campus. We'll see what happens. If I have a normal Ktarian growth spurt, I really would look like an Academy cadet!"_

 _We discussed the latest letters from Mezoti. Thanks to the datastream service to Talax II, we get answers from Mezoti a few days after we send her a letter. It's great that we can see Mezoti and she can see us; but it's not the same thing as talking to her, the way we can to Neelix. Brax keeps in touch with both Mezoti and Naomi, his "datastream pals." Brax is excited that he's going to have a baby brother or sister, too. I told Naomi how happy I am for Neelix, since he's building his own family inside the asteroid. Naomi said she was happy for him, too, but she looked a little sad when we talked about it. She still misses her Uncle Neelix very much._

 _When I saw that, I confessed something that I hoped would cheer her up. I told her I used to feel very sad Mezoti would never know about Neelix leaving Voyager to marry and form his own family, or that Voyager came home. Now we're exchanging letters with her at least once a week! "Boy, were you wrong about that!" Naomi giggled. She was okay afterwards, but I must admit, I'm really amazed we're able to exchange our thoughts when we're so far away from each other._

 _Mezoti and Neelix have both reported that more Borg debris fields have been discovered, but the only intact spheres or scout ships found to date have been ones that have been taken over by the Borg Resistance. Starfleet still isn't ready to assume this means there's no longer a reason to fear the Borg. Naomi has heard that, too, and not just because of her correspondence with Mezoti. Since her parents are stationed at Starfleet Headquarters, Naomi is tied in almost as well as I am with Starfleet affairs. She may even know more than me. Life on campus can be pretty insular._

 _It was a very nice party. It would have been even better if Seven had decided to show up. And it would have been great if Mezoti had been here to wish Naomi a happy birthday in person._

=/\=


	65. Educating the Teacher

=/\=

Icheb had heard that everyone adored Admiral Virdian as a teacher, leading him to anticipate a stimulating and enjoyable Xenobiology class. Icheb was attentive and worked very hard to produce well-researched written assignments. He participated in class. He thought he might do as well in this class as he had in every other one he'd taken at the Academy. The one thing he didn't expect was the admiral's reaction to all of his attempts.

Admiral Virdian criticized every comment Icheb made in class, even though another student might contribute the same observation later and be praised for it. The admiral made it obvious he wasn't at all impressed with Icheb. While he never complained to Seven or any of his friends from _Voyager_ about this disconnect between the admiral's reputation and the way he treated Icheb in class, the admiral's comments about the Borg gave Icheb a rather clear hint about what his problem with Icheb really was. As Tom had told Icheb before the summer session began, the admiral lost his husband when the Borg destroyed the fleet at Wolf 359 in 2367. Icheb was sure that his visible connection to the Borg was a constant reminder to the admiral of his lost spouse.

Although Icheb considered withdrawing from the class, he decided he would do his best and live with the results. If he failed, Icheb would simply take the course again, from another professor. If he did well the second time he took it, the failing grade would be expunged, replaced by the new one. He was annoyed, though. His mother would undoubtedly think it was terribly inefficient for him to waste his time studying under someone who was prejudiced against him; but Icheb's stubborn streak, which previously manifested itself when Seven tried to reject his donation of his cortical node to save her life, reappeared. Icheb refused to back down and withdraw from the class just because the professor didn't like him.

At the session's midpoint, Admiral Virdian assigned an essay on the subject: "Describe What It is Like to Be a Member of Your Species." Icheb was perplexed. Everyone else in the class would know what their subject would be. Even someone like B'Elanna or Naomi could either pick one of the species comprising their genome or choose to describe both of their heritages. But how could Icheb describe himself?

In the handful of days he'd lived on the Brunali world, he'd barely begun to learn what they were about before his parents shipped him back to the Borg. Because of his adoption by Seven, and his life on _Voyager_ with a primarily human crew, he identified more with humanity than any other species. However, in good conscience, he couldn't claim he knew enough about being human to write an essay about that species, either. Of course, he'd been Borg, or "almost" Borg. While the Borg were an amalgam of any race the Collective came across that they wanted to assimilate, rather than a separate species, Icheb still knew more about the Collective than he did about his biological heritage or his adoptive mother's.

He finally decided that he could only write about himself, a Brunali child "almost" assimilated by the Borg and rescued by human beings. He imagined Admiral Virdian would be scornful of such a mish-mosh, but that was the only way Icheb could honestly present himself.

Icheb began his essay by using the first few sentences of his personal log, which depicted his expulsion from the malfunctioning maturation chamber and his confusion about who or what he was. He described how a second immature drone awoke, designated himself as "First," and began to give orders to "Second." Three other "Borglets" joined them, but none were fully Borg, nor were they truly individuals capable of acting in the manner of their own species. Then he described the horror of the alien freight captain's attempted assimilation, and its aftermath:

"Five of Six and I tried to follow the instructions of First, who ripped the man's arm off to insert a Borg appliance into his armpit. But we were incomplete. None of us knew what we were doing. Later, we discovered our nanoprobes had been too immature to assimilate the alien. They could barely keep our own flesh and implants healthy, let alone turn another individual into a functioning drone. All we knew then was that this freighter captain we'd captured screamed and screamed until he couldn't scream anymore. Then he fell silent, awash in a pool of his own blood. Instead of making him one with the Collective, we'd murdered him. His remains rested there, a pile of mottled flesh resting on a metallic bed splashed with blood, until our cube exploded. Four of us, and a fifth who was such an immature infant she couldn't even breathe on her own, were rescued by _Voyager_. First died on the cube, his devotion to the Borg Queen continuing unabated until his last breath.

"Five of Six became my little sister Mezoti. Second was me: Icheb Hansen. The alien we tried to assimilate remained nameless, without any designation we ever knew. He was just another corpse inside the dying Borg cube. His atoms, along with those of at least a thousand other dead drones, now float in space, somewhere in the Delta Quadrant.

"No one volunteers to be a Borg. Drones are like the zombies of old cinematic entertainments. You are attacked and turned into the living dead, without any will of your own. The Queen orders you to do whatever she wants, and if she has any reason to doubt even one drone on a cube, without hesitation she will destroy it, along with thousands more who are on that vessel, too. I know. She did it when I was on _Voyager_ , when my captain and two other officers invaded a cube to free a small number of drones from her control. Some of the debris fields floating in the Delta Quadrant have been identified as the fragments of cubes destroyed by the Queen that day, all because she lost contact with a single drone dwelling inside them.

"I was returned to the care of my parents by the captain of _Voyager_ , but after a mere handful of days they put me inside a single-person transport and sent me into the path of the Borg. _Voyager_ rescued me, but only then did we discover my body is capable of producing a pathogen that brings death to the Borg when I'm assimilated. All of those dead drones inside the cube on which I awoke were killed by me.

"My parents were as willing as the Borg Queen to take away my individuality, even for me to be killed. Is this what the Brunali are like? I don't know. I don't have enough memories of my time before they put me in the first transport, or from those scant few days after they enticed me to live with them again and shoved me into the second, to know if they are typical of the species. I hope not. I can't describe what it is like to be of the Brunali. I simply don't know enough about them to say.

"Now I live in the Federation. I have been adopted by a human woman, assimilated as a child by the Borg, who was also disconnected from the Collective by Captain Janeway and her crew. While many Borg mechanicals have been removed from our bodies and the Borg Queen can no longer order us to do her bidding, some implants remain within us, and probably will throughout our lives. We have been Borg, and, in a way, we always will be. The remaining implants are not why we will never be fully free of the Borg, however. We are haunted by our memories of that existence. We are marked by scars, some invisible to see, but always present. Would either of us ever want to go back to that zombie existence? No. We like who we are now. We are individuals who make our own decisions about how to live our lives. Any mistakes we make we will blame on ourselves, not an entity who cares nothing for those she rules.

"There are not many like us, although we know of others who now function as individuals because they were freed by Captain Janeway's actions. Are we a new, unique species? I don't know about that, either; but I'm glad I'm here now. Maybe someday I will look around me and declare, 'Alien DNA notwithstanding, I'm more human than anything else.' But that is a hope, not an expectation.

"I have lived a horror story. It is my fondest wish that no one else ever will."

Icheb read over his essay. There was much more he could have said, but he didn't want to plague Admiral Virdian with an essay as long as the Early Starfleet History presentation he once gave to Captain Janeway would have been - if she'd ever let him finish reciting it. If the admiral chose to fail him for not producing a paper according to his specifications, so be it.

=/\=

Admiral Virdian made no mention of the assignment in class for the next two weeks, but Icheb thought what he'd presented must have made some sort of impression on the admiral. The negative comments ceased. Icheb hoped this meant he would pass the course with a decent enough grade that he wouldn't have to repeat it.

The day before the admiral was to administer their final exam, he distributed PADDs to the students containing their graded essay - to everyone, that is, except Icheb. He was reluctant to say anything right away to the admiral, who spent the last class reviewing the syllabus, hinting, at times, about certain sections which "you would be wise to review prior to the examination." Once the class was over, Icheb would ask the admiral to give him his grade for his essay.

When the admiral announced, "Class dismissed," Icheb stood up, but before he could take a step forward, Admiral Virdian added, "Cadet Hansen, please report to me. I'd like to speak with you."

Icheb walked up to the teacher's desk and stood at attention, waiting for him to speak. "Please, sit down, Cadet. What I have to say may take a while."

Once Icheb had taken a seat, the admiral leaned forward on the surface of his desk and confided, "I have a confession to make. I'm not very proud of the way I've acted towards you during much of this course. I've always prided myself on giving the best of myself when teaching every one of my students, but I let personal feelings interfere with your experience." He cleared his throat before continuing, "When I reached the sentence near the end of your essay, when you said any mistakes you would make from now on would be your own, it struck me hard. I know I did make mistakes with you. Your reputation preceded you, Cadet Hansen. Every other teacher who's taught you has called you one of the most promising officer candidates he or she has ever seen. I didn't see, but that was my fault, not yours."

Admiral Virdian looked away from Icheb and studied the surface of his desk for a moment. "I lost someone very dear to me because of the Borg. Whenever I looked at you, I never saw the Brunali boy who was rescued by Kathryn Janeway's crew. I only saw that metal plate on the side of your nose, which marked you for what you once were."

"Admiral, I know about the loss of your husband. I can only say I'm sorry for your loss."

"But you had nothing to do with it. You weren't Borg then. From what you wrote in your essay, I gather you never were completely Borg at all. On the day the Battle of Wolf 359 was fought, I imagine you were a young child, running around the surface of the planet of your birth."

"I believe I was, Admiral, although I don't know the exact date of my birth; but that doesn't matter. Even if I _had_ been there, I couldn't have stopped myself from participating in the destruction. None of the drones who took part in that battle had any control over what they were doing. They were programmed, just like computers, to act the way they did."

"I've known that intellectually for a long time, but I guess I never fully accepted it. Then I read your description of assimilation, how a drone is turned into a 'zombie', as you put it. Thanks to your essay, I felt the of horror of that process, the loss of any will of your own. It pains me now to even speak of it, yet you were ordered to inflict that fate on another being. If he'd had the choice, the alien may well have chosen death rather than become one of your Collective drones."

"Was your husband assimilated, Admiral?"

"No. He died. His remains were found in what was left of the _USS Yamaguchi_. At least I never had to wonder what had happened to him, but I was always bitter to lose him that way. In the back of my mind, I think I always thought that if he'd been assimilated, perhaps I'd get him back someday, the way Riker and the crew of _Enterprise_ were able to recover Jean-Luc Picard. After I read your essay, I was glad he was released from life and never had to experience that loss of self. It would have been absolute torture for a man of his temperament."

Icheb sighed deeply. "So many lives wasted, Admiral. I feel badly for all drones. I've often wished more could have been saved and returned to individuality the way my mother Seven - Annika Hansen, that is - and the five of us were." He paused a moment, wondering how much the admiral knew about their trip back to the Alpha Quadrant. Finally he said, "Millions must have died when we returned to the Alpha Quadrant through the collapsing transwarp conduit system. My mother told me she knows she participated in the decimation of entire planetary populations when she was a drone. It haunts her now, but at the time, she had no recourse."

"And you know for a fact the Queen ordered thousands of drones to be slaughtered because she couldn't 'hear' one drone on a vessel?"

"Captain Janeway witnessed her doing it. The Queen was using it as a tactic to try to make the captain cooperate with her. She wanted the captain to stop protecting the drones who went to the virtual reality of Unimatrix Zero, where they could be individuals again during their regeneration periods. I didn't put it in my essay, but the Queen ordered my 'Children's Collective' to terminate ourselves when she lost contact with our cube, too. We didn't follow the order. Until Seven came on board, we were unable to decrypt her message. We didn't understand Borg alphanumerics well at that time, either. We didn't become competent using them until we were living on _Voyager_. Seven taught us the system because she thought we might need to know it someday. It was a good thing she did. My sister Mezoti was able to read a message and help the Borg Resistance drones who came to the planet she lives on now to obtain necessary medical care."

"Your sister Mezoti didn't come here with you? I'd heard that a female child came to the Alpha Quadrant on _Voyager_."

"That was our baby Six of Six. She was adopted by another crewmate. Her name is Aimee Gilmore now."

"Is Marla Gilmore her mother? I remember her. She was in my class several years ago."

"That's Aimee's mother. She's resigned from Starfleet. I see them every now and then. They live in San Francisco."

"I'm sorry to hear about her resignation. I thought she had a brilliant career ahead of her. It's a shame. Say hello from me when you see her again," the admiral remarked matter-of-factly.

Icheb was loathe to respond to this comment, but he didn't get the sense the admiral was speaking either ironically or sarcastically. Icheb hoped this meant he wasn't privy to all that had happened on _Equinox_. Fortunately, Icheb didn't have to respond to the admiral's comment. Admiral Virdian rose to his feet, prompting Icheb to do the same, and said, "I'm sorry I didn't think to have this conversation with you sooner, Cadet. As you can see, even admirals make mistakes. It may be even harder for us to admit it when we do, because of our positions. I hope you'll accept my sincere apology for the rough time I gave you."

"It's all right, Admiral. It may be good practice. I understand some commanding officers think cadets are coddled too much at the Academy!"

This prompted a smile and a slight chuckle from the admiral. "I certainly can't be accused of coddling _you_ , can I, Cadet? By the way, I've sent your essay to you through the com system. I don't think you'll be unhappy with your grade. And I have a suggestion. You might consider submitting the piece to the Academy literary magazine. You write well, considering Federation Standard isn't your first language. Since your essay educated me on the true nature of assimilation, others may benefit from reading it as well." He extended his hand to shake Icheb's. "Good luck on the exam tomorrow."

"Thank you, Admiral. I'm heading to my suite to study for it right now."

=/\=

Icheb did do well on the exam. His final grade for the course was an A, the same grade he'd received for his essay.

=/\=


	66. Time Away

=/\=

 _Stardate 55717.4 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _While I was away on vacation, I took a break from keeping up my personal log. I've been very lax. It's time to catch up._

 _At the end of my summer session, during the break before my junior year at the Academy, Seven and I went away to Mars. B'Elanna and Tom had their vacations there at the same time. It was a working vacation for B'Elanna and Seven. They spent quite a bit of their time consulting with researchers up on Utopia Planitia, answering questions about how they adapted Borg equipment to work on Voyager. While I tagged along with Seven and B'Elanna some days, at others, I went sightseeing with Tom and Miral._

 _When I asked who was in charge of the Delta Flyer project while three of its leaders were here on Mars, Tom explained that Harry was left to run it during their absence._

 _"Wasn't he upset you left him by himself?"_

 _"Icheb, have you ever heard the expression, 'like a pig in slop'? He's loving being 'The Man.' I can't blame him. Getting lost in the Delta Quadrant was the best thing that ever happened to me, but Harry would have be a lot farther along in his career if he'd been assigned to another ship and had followed a more conventional career path."_

 _"Assuming he'd survived the Dominion War." Tom sadly had to agree with that._

 _One weekend we all flew to Jupiter Station and spent time with Dr. Zimmerman. The Doctor had told me about the Dr. Zimmerman's assistant Haley, and his pet photonic iguana, Leonard. The iguana was fun because he'd been programmed to talk and had a very acerbic sense of humor. Any being, organic or photonic, would benefit from maintaining a sense of humor around Dr. Zimmerman. I was more impressed with Haley than I was with him. She was very sweet. Maybe Dr. Zimmerman programmed her with all the qualities he'd never bothered to develop in himself. Our EMH was busy trying to cure Dr. Zimmerman when he visited Jupiter Station last year, while the rest of us were still plowing through the Delta Quadrant on Voyager. The Doctor could learn a lot from Haley - in particular, how to exhibit patience when interacting with difficult patients. On the way back to Mars, Tom explained that if I ever hear the term "curmudgeon," I should visualize Dr. Z!_

 _As much as I enjoyed observing the researchers on Utopia Planitia and the sightseeing, I was relieved when we returned home. I had ten more days off before classes were to resume, so I lived in Seven's house for a week before coming back to the suite. I didn't want to be alone on campus when I didn't have classes or anything to distract me. Staying with Seven and Chakotay at their home was okay. They didn't talk very much with each other, but at least I didn't detect any animosity between them. The visit made me feel a little melancholy, though. Having a chance to spend time with Chakotay made me realize how nice it would be to have a father._

 _Rather than get into any sensitive memories about his life on Voyager after Seven came on board, I asked him to recount events from his earlier life, and to share his perspective on the early years of Voyager's journey - before the encounters with the Borg. His descriptions of his childhood on a world that maintained the traditions of the native American tribes were very interesting, but ultimately, very sad. Both of his parents are dead, and the life they lived there is, too. He admitted that one reason he likes to visit his sister is to help him regain a little of that history. She's working with scientists who are rehabilitating Dorvan so the tribes can move back there. The world was blasted by the Cardassians so badly, it's uninhabited at present, other than by work crews who are restoring its environment. Chakotay was still in Starfleet when the Cardassians attacked. It turned out to be his breaking point. When the Federation didn't protect planets like Dorvan, he resigned and joined the Maquis._

 _When he told me about the Vidiians, I felt bad for them, even though their method of dealing with their tragic illness was repulsive. Seven was with us when we talked about them, and she pointed out that if Kurros from the Think Tank was being truthful, the Vidiians may have been restored to health. At this point, of course, there's no way to know if he was lying or not. Seven and Chakotay both think Kurros embellished his claims about the "good deeds" the Think Tank did for others, especially since he'd set up the attacks on Voyager to make them come to him, and when Seven didn't want to join the group voluntarily, he kidnapped her._

 _Most of Chakotay's stories were more entertaining. I was fascinated with his tale about Marayna, the holographic character who turned out to be an alien scientist in disguise. She fell in love with Tuvok and tried to get him to stay with her. Tuvok explained he had a family who needed him and suggested she visit her home planet for a while to counteract her loneliness._

 _I wish I'd been able to meet Gegen, the honorable Voth scientist who was convinced his people were descended from a species which originated on Earth many millions of year ago. Gegen voluntarily gave up his theories when he was given an ultimatum: continue to espouse them, and Voyager's crew would have been held hostage for the rest of their lives. Not only would they lose any chance of returning home, their futures would have been even more bleak because the reptilian Voth were prejudiced against mammalian species. Chakotay showed me his proposal for a project to explore for evidence of a sophisticated dinosaurian culture._ _He believes the best place would be along margins of the continents as they existed at the time of the hadrosaurs, the most likely species to be the Voth's ancestors. Fossilized remains could be found deep inside rock strata or buried beneath the sea floor._

 _And I laughed quite a bit when he told me the story of the stranded Ferengi "prophets" who made a "profit" from people they scammed. They'd fled from Federation justice by flying through an unstable wormhole. The people where they landed had legends which seemed to describe how the Ferengi arrived. They used those myths to take advantage of the populace until Chakotay, Tom, Neelix, and the captain put an end to their scam, although the Ferengi managed to get away through the unstable wormhole before it closed up, preventing Voyager from utilizing it as a pathway home. I wasn't unhappy about that, since Voyager didn't rescue us until several years later._

 _Tom had already told me a lot about Voyager's trip back through time, when the ship landed in Southern California in the twentieth century and they met Captain Braxton. I was struck by Chakotay's tender smile when he reminisced about walking along the Venice boardwalk with Captain Janeway. Seven wasn't in the garden when he told me about it, so she didn't see his face. It was better she didn't. I really like Captain Chakotay, but whenever he talks about Captain Janeway, his face just lights up. Chakotay's a great person. He just isn't right for my mom._

 _When I came back to the suite yesterday, Verit was in our common living room, standing next to a very tall Vulcan male. She introduced him as "my spouse Torin." They were both dressed in very beautiful, traditional Vulcan robes. I was very unhappy when I saw them there. "Have you come back to pick up the things you left here last spring?" I asked. She replied they had not. She would return here to live until our graduation. Torin is on the staff of the Vulcan Science Institute. He's here to make final arrangements with Starfleet Medical staff for a research project. Torin will be part of a mission traveling to the Gamma Quadrant to work with the Founders. After their experience with the illness that almost led to their demise, the Founders wish to exchange information with Federation scientists to explore ways to prevent anything like it happening to their race again. He expects to be gone for approximately two years. Verit had trouble maintaining her Vulcan equanimity when he told me how long he'd be gone._

 _Fortunately, their marriage bond was confirmed a few days after Verit arrived home for vacation with her family, at the conclusion of her field study placement. She said she is relieved there will be no barriers for either spouse to continue following their career paths (for the next seven years or so, but she didn't mention that, and I didn't bring it up). Verit left most of her baggage in her room and asked me if I would transfer the storage boxes I'd been keeping for her to her room, too. I told her I would. For the next few days, Verit and her husband are going to do some sightseeing on Earth. He's never visited here before. Even though they're leaving for the weekend, I'll have company again. Austin and Farys are both due to arrive tonight._

 _We'll all be together for the six-week spacewalk course from early September until the end of October. Then we'll return in time for an "old fashioned Halloween." I told her I'd heard there would be lots of ghosts around then. Verit said Austin would share the Day of the Dead traditions with me, too. She was familiar with the Day of the Dead from residing here with Austin and Farys last fall. Verit had no trouble at all accepting the idea that the spirits of family members might visit the living for All Soul's Day. "A ghost is simply a katra that has not been stored properly." She was absolutely serious when she told me this. After she left with Torin for the weekend, I went to the database and researched Vulcan beliefs on the spirit world. It's intriguing to think that although Vulcans prize logic above all things, they also believe in the katra of those who have left this plane of existence. I'd like to think they have hard evidence of its survival after the body expires. It's a very comforting concept._

 _Let's see. I think I've caught up . . . no. There one more thing to record. It has to do with recordings, too. This morning I prepared a long transmission to send to Mezoti. I had an imager with me on Mars and recorded many of our experiences, both on Utopia Planitia and from our sightseeing trips, to send to her. I told her I hoped she'd enjoy them. I had a separate message to forward to her from Aunt Irene. She's begun a correspondence with Mezoti, too, which pleases Seven and me. Aunt Irene has invited us to Sweden for Christmas - Mezoti, too, although she obviously won't be able to make it. Seven and I will. We hope we'll get there by Christmas. Several events celebrating the first anniversary of Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant are planned, and Mrs. Paris has already told us to "save the date" for Miral's first birthday party. Mrs. Paris promises it will be an "extravaganza."_

 _We'll share images of all those events with Mezoti, too. It's getting a little easier to correspond with her now that it's turned into a regular routine, but I still wish she could be here on Earth with us. Someday . . ._

=/\=


	67. Spacewalking

=/\=

During one of his piloting lessons with Tom, shortly before _Voyager's_ discovery of the Talaxian colony, the pilot had decided Icheb should know what to do if the artificial gravity ever failed in a shuttle he was occupying. Tom had no reason to believe his piloting protégé would be in a position to take the Spacewalk course at the Academy anytime soon. Learning how to handle weightlessness seemed advisable, given one of Tom's experiences with B'Elanna, when they had to evacuate their shuttle just before it exploded.

Once the _Delta Flyer_ attained orbit around a fairly large moon, Tom demonstrated the deliberate way a person needed to move in zero-G. "If your movements are jerky," he explained, "you're liable to shoot across the compartment and maybe slam your head against a bulkhead." After Icheb seemed to have gotten the hang of the technique, Tom turned the level of artificial gravity to half of Luna normal. They practiced for several more minutes before Tom turned it off completely, and both of them began to float around the cabin. At one point, Icheb pushed off the ceiling a little too crisply and bounced off the floor. With his quick reflexes, he was able to grab hold of the back of the navigator's seat and stabilize his motion before crashing into anything else, especially Tom.

Once they'd maneuvered back into the pilot and co-pilot seats, Tom turned the gravity back on. "You did well, Icheb. That's the first practical exercise covered during the six-week Spacewalk course at the Academy. Cadets take it during their third year. We'll practice inside the shuttle a few more times before proceeding to the spacewalk stage. When _Voyager's_ in orbit around a planet where it would be a safe place to practice those techniques, I'll ask the captain to allow us to go outside of the ship. B'Elanna will be delighted if you qualify to complete repairs on the hull while the ship is aloft. Our Day of Honor 'spacewalk' was one of the best things that ever happened in our personal life, but we _did_ almost die. She always turns a lovely shade of green whenever she thinks she needs to go outside the ship in an environmental suit. I suspect that's the real reason she asked the captain to land on a planet for a refit a while ago. She was able complete a fine-tooth check on the exterior while dressed in her uniform."

The opportunity never arose. _Voyager_ returned to the Alpha Quadrant very soon afterwards. Icheb told this story to his suitemates, however, and the week before their class was scheduled to begin, he demonstrated what Tom had shown him. Everyone practiced the movements wherever they walked inside their suite. "Thanks for the lessons, Icheb " Austin said at one point during their practice sessions. "It'll be great to be ahead of the curve in this class." And they were.

While Icheb and his suitemates were orbiting the Earth, especially while they were outside of the spacecraft and practicing exterior repairs, they enjoyed another experience that was almost as fascinating as learning how to manage their movements while weightless. For the entire six weeks, the great blue globe of Earth spun beneath them, glowing with its diverse beauty. The sands of desserts, the rocky promontories of mountain ranges, and, especially, the sparkling blue and green seas, revealed themselves in steady progression, day after day, while the lights of cities sparkled when they passed over the night side. They observed the weather from far above the surface, tracking several tropical storms form off the coast of Africa, as the trade winds blew them across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. Three deepened into severe hurricanes.

Austin kept close watch on one that threatened to hit the Texas coast. It wobbled southward, slamming into the Yucatan and then into the interior of Mexico rather than maintaining a destructive course towards his home. One day, as they stood together at one of the viewports of the station where the class was being held, watching one of the storms cross the ocean, Austin asked Icheb "Did your home planet have weather patterns like this?"

"I don't know. I wasn't there long enough to learn much about the weather patterns on Brunal."

"I'm sorry. I knew you weren't . . . I shouldn't have brought it up," the Texan murmured.

"It's okay, Austin. I can't forget my home planet. I do remember that the percentage of the surface covered with water was much less than Earth's. I noticed it when _Voyager_ was in orbit over Brunal, while I was refusing to even meet my parents. I couldn't access any of my early memories, but maybe my subconscious wanted to warn me of possible danger. I remember thinking it was a desolate sort of place, compared to a much prettier planet we'd visited for shore leave just before we went to Brunal. I don't know if Brunal was always grim like that, or if Borg incursions had something to do with it." He sighed then, and added, "From orbit, you could see the scars left from where the Borg had assimilated entire cities. The damage to the environment was catastrophic. I remember my father Leucon telling that was why the people developed genetic resequencing technology. They needed to develop plants to restore the planet's ecology."

"Bajor suffered like that from the Occupation. The Cardassians poisoned entire districts on my planet through carelessness. They stole our resources and didn't care what would happen to us once they left. Our scientists are trying to restore those areas using similar technology - and sometimes the old-fashioned kind of breeding plants and animals through observation, trial, and error," Farys remarked.

Verit was the one who put it in perspective for them all. "In my studies, I learned that Earth's environment was damaged by actions their own people had taken through industrial development. Fortunately, during the 21st century, steps were taken to limit the damage. They used plant life to remove excess carbon from the air, which stopped the temperature from rising as quickly as it had during the previous two centuries. The ice caps stabilized. When you see it now, so blue and aesthetically pleasing, it's easy to forget that destruction can come from the carelessness of the populace of a planet just as easily as it can from external invaders."

"That's good to remember, Verit. Thanks to my time on _Voyager,_ I've seen many worlds. It would tragic if a lovely world like this were destroyed by the Borg. And even more, if its own populace ruined it through short-sightedness."

=/\=


	68. Mok'tah (Resolved)

=/\=

Icheb spent the first weekend he was back on Earth with Seven. Chakotay was at a conference in Luna City and wasn't expected back until Sunday night.

Seven smiled and hugged Icheb when he entered the house; but after they sat down to enjoy the autumn garden, her mood was contemplative, almost Borg-like. Icheb asked her if she was feeling well.

"I'm fine," she replied. "It's just . . . I'm sure you've noticed Chakotay and I aren't arguing as much as we were, but it's not because we're more comfortable with each other. We have little to say to one another anymore. We seem to have drifted apart."

After Icheb asked her why, she admitted, "He often attends social events with Captain Janeway which I'm unable to attend. The Delta Flyer project is in its final stages. I often must be available to our staff. It's not a problem if the event is on Earth, but many are elsewhere in the Sol System, out of transporter range."

"What does he say to you when you tell him you can't go? Does he decline invitations when you can't accompany him?"

"Chakotay accepts all social engagement invitations offered unless there's a conflict with his own schedule. He says he's grateful he was permitted to return to Starfleet and was promoted to captain. If he's asked to represent Starfleet, he goes. 'It's one of the duties of rank.'"

Icheb replied, "It is, but that doesn't mean he must accept _every_ invitation."

She sighed. "I'm sure it's not. It's a sign of his discontent with the status of our relationship. We've had heated arguments in the past, especially over my lack of interest in becoming a Starfleet officer. He believes I would be offered a Starfleet commission immediately if I expressed an interest. Others have also, but I can't understand why Chakotay, of all people, doesn't understand my unwillingness. Even if, as he says, my knowledge, experience, and memories from Starfleet officers who had been assimilated by the Borg would allow me to be appointed without further schooling, I simply do not want a formal rank of any kind. Tertiary Adjunct to the Unimatrix 01 was close enough to me. I'm content with my position as a civilian consultant. Becoming an officer is your dream, not mine."

"Then you shouldn't worry about it. No one can accuse you of failing to contribute your expertise to Starfleet, even though you're not an officer. Tell me, Civilian Consultant, if the project you're consulting on is in its final stages, what you will do next? Will you remain here, on Earth?"

"I may move to Utopia Planitia. Their staff has invited me to work with them on the Folding Space Drive Project once the Delta Flyer shuttle series is ready for production."

"I thought the problems were all solved. The Delta Flyer shuttles have that drive installed, don't they? Or did your team give up on that?"

"No, Icheb. The version the engineers finally came up with works well enough on a craft the size of a shuttle, but it's still not viable for larger spaceships. That's what they want us to work on. They've asked B'Elanna to join the work group as well."

"What about Tom? He's expecting to return to his position as _Voyager's_ chief helmsman once the refit has been finished."

She looked away, a sad expression on her face. "I believe the refit has been finished for several weeks. _Voyager_ hasn't been cleared for relaunch."

"Don't you think it ever will be?"

"No," she said brusquely. "I believe the ship will become a museum. While Captain Janeway and most of our crew want the ship returned to active status, many in Starfleet Command would prefer it to remain on the ground forever. I understand many Federation Council representatives are in favor of the museum concept as well."

Both fell silent for several minutes. Icheb had hoped to be able to serve on _Voyager_ someday, preferably under Captain Janeway. That seemed unlikely now. He didn't like the idea the captain would accept a promotion to admiral, even though he knew the rumor she would "any day now" circulated constantly within Starfleet circles.

His desires meant nothing to those who had the power to make such a decision. Obsessing over what might never be was useless. His time would be better spent enjoying the surrounding garden. It was peaceful here. He hadn't been able to come here often since Seven began to live here. The soft breeze stirred his hair, closely-clipped as it was, and caused the fall flowers to bob gently, almost as if they were the heads of alien animal life forms, rather than representatives of the Terran plant kingdom. He would miss this if Seven moved to Mars to work at Utopia Planitia. When he mentioned this observation to Seven, however, she surprised him by her reply.

"I may keep the house. The position at Utopia Planitia would be time limited. I may wish to return to Earth once that commitment is fulfilled. I like this house. Besides, you should have a home available to you for as long as you're still at the Academy."

"And, of course, Chakotay will still be living here, since he teaches at the Academy," Icheb remarked.

Seven turned away from him after he said this and looked far away into the distance. Eventually, she murmured softly, "I don't know if he would wish to remain here without me. Or with me, for that matter."

"Seven! What are you saying?"

She turned her eyes back to him and asked, "You've seen him with Captain Janeway, walking on campus, haven't you? Whenever I see him with Captain Janeway, they seem to be at ease with each other. She touches him on the arm, and he smiles back at her in the way he used to towards me. He seems to be more attached to her now than he is to me. Do you agree?"

He'd seen them together many times, and not just on campus. Whenever they were together, although he didn't notice any overt indications of a romance, he couldn't miss seeing how much they enjoyed each other's company. Icheb didn't know how to answer her. She did it for him.

"By your silence, you've confirmed my opinion."

"They're very good friends." The skeptical expression on her face after he made this innocuous, accurate, but very obvious observation prompted him to add, " _Very_ good friends. Seven, please don't be upset, but from what I've seen, Chakotay and Janeway do seem good for each other."

She sighed. "I can't be upset when I think they are, too. Icheb, do you think Chakotay and I are what B'Elanna calls Harry and Libby's relationship? 'Mok'tah,' I believe is the Klingon term?"

"You've talked about this with B'Elanna?"

"She's known Chakotay for a long time. I asked her what she thought. I knew she would give me her honest opinion. When I asked her if she thought he was more attached to Captain Janeway than me, she didn't want to answer me at first, either. Then she admitted she did. She said she'd never understood how we became a couple in the first place. Then she mentioned her grandmother used the term about her parents, who separated when B'Elanna was just a child. I asked her to tell me exactly what this meant, and she did. It hurt, but I could see why she said it. Chakotay and I are . . . very different."

Icheb didn't say anything. He realized he didn't have to. Seven tightened her chin in the way she always did when coming to a decision with which she would brook no arguments. "I doubt our relationship will last much longer. It may be better if we broke up now. There's no point in prolonging a liaison that is no longer viable."

"If you do break up, will you be able to remain friends with him? And with the captain?"

"It will be difficult, but it will be harder to interact with each other in the future if we end our relationship in a bitter argument. Captain Janeway has been my mentor and defender ever since my link with the Collective was broken. She's placed herself in harm's way for me many times. As fraught as our relationship has sometimes been, to end our friendship because we are both attracted to the same man would be unjust." She looked away from Icheb. "I'm not even sure I _am_ attracted to Chakotay the way I was in the beginning. He's a fine man, but I think the Klingon term may be accurate. We aren't a good match."

"I wish I could say otherwise, but I've thought that for quite a while now."

She sighed as she continued to gaze into the distance, in the direction of the Pacific Ocean, although it wasn't visible from this garden. The only sign it was nearby was the faint scent of brine in the sea breeze blowing towards them. Eventually she said, "I will miss Chakotay. In the beginning, we shared a loving relationship."

"I'm sure you did, but Chakotay is the first man you ever had a relationship with. Your first love. There will be others, Seven. What you're feeling now is normal. Tom told me all about it when I broke up with my girlfriend."

Her head whipped around and she stared at him. "Girlfriend? What girlfriend?"

Whoops! He'd forgotten he'd never mentioned Jolana Tor to Seven before this. Sheepishly, he admitted, "I was seeing a cadet for a short time. My suitemates all thought Jolana and I were 'mok'tah,' too."

"Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"I tried to, once. Remember when I came to your house last spring? We spoke about gardening, but what I really wanted to talk with you about was my girlfriend. When I saw how things were between you and Chakotay, I didn't feel I could bring it up. You seemed so at odds with each other. I left early that day. I asked you if anything was wrong. You told me I shouldn't be concerned, but I couldn't help it. I was. Jolana dumped me a week or so after that."

Seven sighed. "You had a right to be concerned after all, Icheb. I'm sorry. If you'd confided in me, I would have listened to you and given you advice - although I'm not sure how valuable it would have been. I haven't managed my own relationship very well."

"I spoke with Tom Paris. He helped me."

"He has ample experience in the subject," she remarked drily.

Icheb laughed. "He told me I had a case of 'First Love.' When you experience these feelings for the first time, you're sure you've found the perfect mate. When it doesn't work out, you feel terrible. Later on, though, when you find someone else, you know what love is all about because you've had that first experience. He told me when you feel real love, you'll know the difference."

"Axum was my first love, Icheb."

"That isn't the same thing. You were never physically together. Until you're actually with someone, and truly share yourselves, body and soul, you don't really know."

"Unimatrix Zero was a very unique place. How do you know what we shared?"

Icheb wasn't sure how to respond to this. Mezoti knew more about Unimatrix Zero than he did. However, the bodies of Seven and Axum were physically half a galaxy away from each other's whenever they visited that virtual reality. Icheb decided to answer her with another question. "I don't know much about it, that's true. Let me ask you this, though. Did you ever feel about Chakotay the way you felt about Axum? I remember how sad you were when you realized how far away Axum was from you in reality. That you could never be with him again in _any_ way, since Unimatrix Zero had been destroyed."

She took a deep breath before answering, "I don't think I ever did. After I remembered how it had been between Axum and me, I didn't want it to ever end."

"I'm sure you didn't," he said, smiling sadly. "Is that why you've clung so closely to Chakotay for so long?"

"Not really. After what we learned what happened between us on Admiral Janeway's _Voyager_ , I was sure we would be able to overcome our problems eventually _._ I thought our love would be enough. It wasn't."

"Seven, with the limited number of available partners on that ship, and its long period of isolation from the Federation, that Seven and Chakotay had plenty of time to work out the rough spots. Admiral Janeway wanted to convince our captain to change her mind and cooperate with her plan. She told us what she needed to push her agenda along. She may not have known about disagreements the two of them had. On the admiral's _Voyager_ , there weren't any real alternatives for either of you."

"Chakotay could have entered into a relationship with Captain Janeway."

"You know she'd never have let that happen while they were captain and first officer on the same ship. She'd never have broken the protocols forbidding it. I'm not sure he would, either."

For a moment, he thought she might argue the point, but then she admitted, "It's true. If they'd wished, they could have formed a relationship long before I arrived on _Voyager_."

"Many of the crew believe they did, while the two were marooned on the planet called New Earth because of an insect-borne illness. They were alone for months and never expected to be able leave. From what Tom, Harry, and B'Elanna have said, no one knows exactly what happened during that time, but when _Voyager_ came back with the antidote, they didn't seem as excited about their 'rescue' as many of the crew expected. But from then on, as the most senior officers on the ship, they _always_ followed the Starfleet protocols about non-fraternization."

Seven pondered this for a long while, but when she spoke again, her question changed the subject. "Does it upset you to know Chakotay will not adopt you now?"

"He never did in the admiral's time stream even though he married her Seven. I don't know how my counterpart felt about their relationship. I wish I'd been able to get a letter from him, to find out what he really thought of it all. The admiral's letter said they were a happy family 'as far as anyone knew.' I find that curious wording. I sometimes think her Icheb felt left out of their relationship and never pushed the issue while his mother was alive. And once she was gone, that Chakotay sounds like he became seriously depressed. I'm not really upset our Chakotay never made any overtures about adopting me, even though having a father to love me would be nice."

"Chakotay and I discussed the possibility several times. He admitted he was ambivalent about adopting you because you had almost reached adulthood. I was unhappy he thought having a mother was enough for you. He believed we should have a child of our own."

"Could you? In the admiral's letter, she stated her Seven was unable to have a baby. The Borg put our Six of Six in a maturation chamber right away, when she was nowhere near being ready to live on her own. Is there a reason for that other than convenience?"

"Before you came to _Voyager_ , I did have a child - in a way, since he became an adult within hours of his birth. My son One was created from the Doctor's 29th century mobile emitter, my DNA, and Ensign Mulcahey's. His entire gestation was spent inside an advanced maturation chamber. Perhaps I would require such a device to have a baby of my own."

When she paused, Icheb hesitantly suggested, "Chakotay might have preferred to adopt Mezoti. She's younger. He might have found it easier to accept that she needed a father."

Seven gazed sadly at Icheb. "Perhaps. I would have preferred to adopt you both."

=/\=

 _Stardate 55894.4 7 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _My mother Seven and Chakotay have agreed they will be better off if they lived apart. He moved out of the house two days ago, into an apartment building reserved for Academy faculty. It's closer to the campus than Seven's house is, but not by much. They'll still be neighbors. They've agreed to remain friends and expect to continue to socialize occasionally. She asked me not to mention their separation to any of our friends and crewmates, which is a little disturbing. While Seven expects her relationship to end, now that Chakotay has moved out of the house, she admitted to retaining a slight glimmer of hope that "absence will make our hearts grow fonder." I do not wish to disillusion her, but I don't see that happening. However, I will honor her wishes not to disclose the change in their relationship until they see fit to announce it themselves._

 _There will be a big formal dinner marking the first anniversary of Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant in December, just before Christmas. Starfleet began planning it months ago, and Chakotay and Seven have agreed to attend together. Miral's first birthday party will be the same day, in the afternoon. Seven isn't sure she'll go to that one, since it will be geared to children. I plan on going to Miral's party on my own. Mrs. Paris asked me to help her set up some of the activities she has planned for the children at the party._

 _As a member of Voyager's crew, I was also invited to the formal dinner, of course. My suitemates received invitations as well. Austin will be home with his family for the holidays by then, but Verit and Farys will both come with me to the anniversary celebration. Technically, my "date" will be Farys. Verit will be attending "stag," since she's now a married woman. Torin left for his long-range expedition two weeks ago. He's not expected to return until after our graduation from the Academy. Farys was quite upset by the way he "abandoned" his bride, but Verit explained it isn't that unusual for Vulcan spouses to spend years apart. Tuvok and T'Pel were separated for more than seven years! While that_ _ **is**_ _unusual, neither of them anticipated it would last that long._

 _Since she knows I'm aware of the facts of Vulcan life, thanks to what I learned on Voyager, Verit also spoke to me in private about the situation. She told me Vulcan couples do attempt to be near each other when they know the "time that is appointed" will soon arrive. Usually, they try to remain in close proximity from the end of the sixth year of their "cycle" until their pon farr is resolved. While to Farys or anyone else who asks, she claims to be completely "at peace" with her new husband's decision to take part in an expedition that will last for almost two years, I know she isn't. I think the reason she discussed it with me was to reassure herself that it doesn't bother her, when it actually does._

 _If I wasn't keeping Seven and Chakotay's separation to myself, as I was asked, I would have discussed my perceptions about their situation with Verit. I can't, of course, but I **have** thought about it - a lot. I see why they were attracted to each other. He's a very handsome man. She's an exceptionally attractive woman. Because of their limited opportunities for finding a compatible mate on Voyager, they became involved without taking into account the difficulties their very different personalities might present to an ongoing relationship. I can't blame Seven about this. Her lack of experience in these matters blinded her to the likelihood they would have difficulties adjusting to each other. I do wonder why Chakotay failed to anticipate problems, however. They were at odds from the very first hour Seven arrived on Voyager, and even more after the captain "adopted" her into the "Voyager collective." He's much older than she is, but the gap in their ages wouldn't have mattered if they viewed life the same way. He's a spiritual man who relies on his past experiences as well as his instincts when he makes decisions._ _Seven is_ _all_ _about facts and figures, but she's prone to making snap decisions. That can lead to complications which would be avoided if she weren't so quick to act._

 _What bothers me the most, however, is that he knows how difficult relationships can be. He was involved with Seska, a Cardassian spy (as B'Elanna often laments, since she was taken in by her as completely as Chakotay was). A former Borg, Riley Frazier, romanced him and then used him when the group she was part of wanted to form a "Cooperative." I know about those encounters because they happened on Voyager. It's hard to believe he hasn't had other romantic relationships even before this. He should have known better than to become involved with Seven, who was as innocent as a child in such matters. Her only previous attachment was with Axum, during visits to Unimatrix Zero. As strongly as Seven may have felt for Axum, their entire relationship was played out within the confines of a virtual reality world. No matter how "real" it seemed to be, it was all, quite literally, in their minds. The little she actually knew about the physical aspects of relationships came from vague memories she retained from beings who'd enjoyed such experiences before their assimilation. I've compared my affair with Jolana to my memories from the same source. There's simply no comparison._

 _Admiral Janeway described how despondent her Chakotay became after he lost Seven on her Voyager. I wonder - was that relationship really as close and loving as the admiral said it was? Or maybe thought it was? Did he fall apart because he felt guilt as much as pain from his lost love? The journey to the Alpha Quadrant lasted thirteen more years for the admiral's crew. After he lost Seven, he fell into a deep depression and never came out of it for the rest of his life. My Captain Janeway fell victim to that malady herself at one time, according to Neelix, so I guess she knew a lot about it from first-hand experience. But I also remember what Neelix me about its source. Captain Janeway's depression originated from her feelings of guilt that she'd stranded the crews of Voyager and the Val Jean in the Delta Quadrant, protecting strangers instead of finishing her mission and saving her own people._

 _I guess I may be reading too much into this. We can't ask the admiral about the details anymore. She's gone. So is the entire history of her Voyager and its crew. All I can do is speculate, but I think the story she told us might have been oversimplified. She came back in time to change history to save the lives of the members of the crew she lost, including my counterpart. I accept that as fact. I'm sure she grieved about us for years. My Captain Janeway still grieves over those she lost in the seven years our Voyager traveled through the Delta Quadrant. It also must have been terrible to watch Chakotay fall apart while Tuvok deteriorated mentally. I wonder if guilt, rather than grief, was an even bigger factor than she'd admitted to us. And how much worse would it have been for her if she_ _ **had**_ _loved Chakotay all those years, a love which would remain unrequited for her entire lifetime. If she felt for him in the way my crewmates believe she did, his inconsolable grief must have been unbearable for her to witness._

 _I'm sure Seven will get over him eventually. I'm confident she'll find someone else to love who will be a much better match for her than Chakotay was. And now that Chakotay is free, I hope he'll find another love, too. There are no protocols forbidding a relationship with Captain Janeway anymore. They hold the same rank, and they aren't in the same chain of command._

 _I've learned enough about First Love from my research to know what I must do, or in some ways, not do, for Seven. First, I'll allow my mother mourn her loss. A lost love is much like a death, I've discovered. There are stages of grief. I must be prepared for her to be angry with me sometimes, just because I'm there. She will be depressed at times, too. I'll resist the temptation to try to set her up with someone I'd like for a father. That doesn't work out very often. While there are a few stories about that happening, I have a hunch the reason people like to hear them is because they're so rarely successful. I'll make time to visit her at home as often as I can, even though I'll be busy with school. I must let her give vent to her emotions, especially since she now feels them fully. Eventually she'll feel better._

 _And it will be much easier in one way. I won't have to agonize anymore over Seven and Chakotay, a couple who, as B'Elanna said, are "mok'tah." A bad match._

=/\=


	69. Thanksgiving

=/\=

Classes were suspended during the traditional holiday of Thanksgiving, held at the end of November in this part of the North American continent. Seven and Icheb received several invitations to spend the long weekend with various friends and acquaintances. Captain Janeway's mother Gretchen extended an offer to enjoy the day with the Janeway family in Indiana. Seven was reluctant to accept. She was certain Chakotay would be there. While their parting might have been "amicable," the wound left by the failure of their relationship was still raw. Since she'd already committed to accompanying him to the dinner commemorating _Voyager's_ return to the Alpha Quadrant, she didn't want to see him again so soon.

Admiral and Mrs. Paris also extended an invitation to dinner. Their home was already going to be a quite literal "full house," however. Tom's sisters' families were coming, as was Reg Barclay, along with several more of Admiral Paris' colleagues from Project Pathfinder. The Rikaar family would arrive from Bajor the day before the holiday.

Harry Kim's parents invite Icheb and Seven to their home, too. Once Icheb learned Libby would be there, he was very relieved when Seven thanked Mr. and Mrs. Kim for thinking of them, but they "already had plans."

Fortunately, this didn't turn out to be a falsehood. Austin invited Icheb "and your beautiful mom" to Texas for his family's traditional Thanksgiving celebration. Icheb thought Seven might turn that one down, too; but when she learned Verit and Farys, who were both far away from their families, would also be there, she explained, "You have nothing but good things to say about your suitemates, Icheb. I've spent little time with them thus far. This will be an opportunity for me to get to know them."

Austin was delighted and promised to take his guests on a tour of the Texas Hill Country. "We'll be too full after dinner on Thanksgiving Day, but on Friday and Saturday, be ready to travel!"

=/\=

When Seven and Icheb arrived at Austin's home, they were a little overwhelmed with the number of people celebrating the holiday with the Sanchez family. Austin's three aunts, four uncles, ten cousins, along with his older brother's wife and children, created quite a crowd. "We get rowdy sometimes, but we all love each other. You'll see. We'll have lots of fun."

Icheb was confused when Austin's Uncle Jack called someone Jethro, and Austin answered. Farys began to giggle, and Verit's eyebrow arched high, as it always did when she found something amusing. "What? Is your uncle calling you Jethro?"

Austin sighed melodramatically and said, "I confess. That's me. Jethro is an old family name, and I'm the one in this generation unlucky enough to get stuck with it."

"So you're not really 'Austin from Austin' after all?" Icheb asked, unable to hold in his smile.

"Oh, he's not from Austin really. We're _miles_ from there," Austin's nephew Jimmy explained.

"But Austin _is_ my middle name," Icheb's suitemate replied.

"But the name came from the city," Icheb remarked.

"Not exactly. Momma's name before she married Pa was Dorothea Austin. My name comes from her old surname. So, now you know. I'm amazed Farys or Verit didn't tell you before. They were here for the holidays last year. They already knew about it."

"Your preferred designation is Austin. That's all true friends should consider," Seven proclaimed, in her best Borg-influenced manner. "I understand perfectly. After we returned to Earth, I asked to be called by my human name, Annika Hansen. Almost all of my acquaintances still call me Seven. At least Lieutenant Kim complies with my request and calls me Annika. It's very annoying. I've made my choice of designation perfectly clear. Why can't everyone use it?"

Icheb smiled quizzically. "Does that mean you want me to call you Annika - or Mom?"

"That's precisely the reason I become so annoyed. Seven is _your_ name for me. It isn't one for anyone else to use."

"That's a relief - Seven," Icheb said, prompting a smile from his mother and a general ripple of "Miz Hansens" from all around the room. That's when Icheb noticed that everyone at the Sanchez home already called his adoptive mother Miz Hansen, and they were considerate enough to continue to do so throughout the weekend.

When they sat down to dinner, the long farmhouse table was loaded with food, much of it grown on the homestead. Their home was a well-preserved farmhouse built in the mid twenty-first century, but in a farmhouse style more commonly built over 150 years earlier. With almost fifty acres of land, the family continued to raise chickens for eggs, kept a couple of milk cows, and coddled a pair of longhorn cattle who were "Momma's pets," according to Austin. Much of the land was farmed. Many of the vegetables for the meal came from the huge kitchen garden Austin's parents tended religiously. Thanksgiving dinner was cooked in the kitchen in the old-fashioned way, inside an oven and on top of the stove.

When Verit learned the centerpiece of the meal, the roasted turkey, had been gobbling on the grounds until a short time ago and hadn't been produced out of a replicator, she passed on the meat and gravy. From the previous year's visit, however, Mrs. Sanchez knew Verit was a vegetarian who ate some dairy. She'd prepared several special dishes without ingredients which might offend Vulcan sensibilities. In addition to the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping (although Verit discreetly left most of the topping to the side as "too sweet"), and hot rolls with butter enjoyed by everyone, there was one dish which was very much a surprise. Verit later mentioned to Icheb how pleased she was to see it when the tureen was placed in front of her. "Plomeek Soup? Mrs. Sanchez! How . . . ?"

"You Academy types aren't the only ones who can research things, Darlin'. I wanted something special for you that you might have if you were home on Vulcan for a special day like Thanksgiving. Farys, I looked for a good Bajoran recipe, but the only thing I found for the home cook was Jumja tea! So, that's all I can offer you."

"I love Jumja tea! Thank you so much! Mrs. Sanchez, don't apologize. When I was a very young child, right after the Occupation ended, I remember many times when there wasn't much of anything for my family to eat. After I learned of this holiday, I thought it was a perfect way to show gratitude. I'm happy to eat whatever you wish to share with me. Food in abundance is a gift from the Prophets. I'll ask them to bless your family for your kindness to all of us."

Several people around the table murmured their thanks and blessings, as well. Icheb glanced at Seven, who was sitting next to him, and brushed her hand. She squeezed back - very gently, since it was her left, Borg-enhanced limb he'd touched. He was grateful for this chance to spend an extended amount of time with his adoptive mother. It was the first opportunity they'd had in some time, and he wanted her to know how special it was for him, too.

Austin's Aunt Maria had prepared a special treat to supplement the pumpkin, apple, and pecan pies Austin's mother had baked. When Seven saw it was New York-style cheesecake, she said she'd like to try pecan pie. Icheb suppressed his smile. When Verit asked him about it later, when they were walking around the garden and Seven was inside speaking with Austin's mother, Icheb told Verit about the time the Doctor hid inside Seven's neural network. "He ate a whole New York cheesecake. It was his first opportunity to explore human sensations like taste, so I do understand. For weeks after they returned to _Voyager_ , Seven went to Sickbay when she ate her dinners to describe the flavors to him. I don't think it was totally altruistic of her, though. I think she was getting back at him. Her clothing was much too tight for several days because of his overindulgence. Seven had to go on a 'diet.' And she wasn't happy about it."

On Friday and Saturday, Austin brought Seven and his suitemates around the Texas Hill Country and shared several sites of historical interest with them. As Icheb noted to Seven when they were flying over a very dry part of the countryside, "It's not much like Sweden."

Seven agreed. "No, it isn't; but I do like it here. The people are very friendly. I believe hospitable is the correct term. I like all your suitemates." She paused before adding, at a whisper, "Especially Verit."

"That's not a surprise, is it? Vulcans and Borg tend to look at things the same way."

"Yes, they do."

"Are you glad you agreed to come here for the holiday instead of going to Mrs. Janeway's or Admiral Paris's?"

"Yes, I am. I've enjoyed meeting people who follow a different way of living than Starfleet's. It's as if we're exploring a new world. It's . . . refreshing."

"In a way, it _is_ a different world," Icheb agreed. "We spend so much of our time in cities. Here in the country, it's a little like we've traveled back in time to visit earlier days on this planet. Sort of like a trip to Tom's Fair Haven - except here, everything's real."

=/\=

On Sunday, a little before they were to share their final meal with their hosts, Seven pulled on the high-heeled western boots she'd borrowed from Austin's Aunt Maria and walked with Icheb around the perimeter of the property. A chilly wind was blowing out of the north, forcing them to sustain a brisk pace, but their cheeks were ruddy from the wind by the time their steps brought them back to the farm buildings. Before going on up to the house, Seven stepped through the barn doors. Icheb followed her inside. Although the cows and other livestock were still out in the fields, it was much warmer inside the barn and out of the wind. The smell of hay, mingled with a slight whiff of "barnyard," as Austin put it, made for a peaceful atmosphere.

Seven surprised Icheb by putting her arms around his shoulders and giving him a gentle squeeze. It wasn't something she did very often.

"Icheb, I'm glad I came with you to spend this holiday with your friends and Austin's family. We celebrated Thanksgiving on _Voyager_ , of course, but many of Neelix's little 'traditional touches' to it remained, even after he left the ship. Now I can see how many of the 'traditions' had more to do with Talax than they did with Thanksgiving on Earth."

"True, but then, he wanted to include everyone, not just the humans. Making Plomeek Soup and getting Jumja tea for Farys was very nice of Mrs. Sanchez, though."

"It was," Seven agreed.

"That's one thing Neelix always got right. He knew this holiday is all about giving thanks for your family and friends."

"That's very true. That's why I've been trying to find a way to say this to you. I'm glad I've found a good time for it. Icheb, when you asked me to adopt you, I thought it only right. You'd suffered pain . . . no, don't interrupt me. Let me finish. You offered me a part of your own self so that I could live. You were right about not actually needing your cortical node to survive; but if you did, you would have died. So, I thought of myself taking on the role of an older sister to you. Adoption would provide you with stability in your life that had been taken away from you by almost everyone you'd met up until then. I was pleased to be of service to you in this way."

Icheb felt the skin of his face becoming warm. He doubted it had anything at all to do with the aftereffects of the chilly Texas wind. "I'm glad I could be of service to you, too. We've been over this, I think? I still feel the same way towards you, Seven. I will always be grateful because you saved my life, too . . ."

"Icheb," she said softly, "I thought of myself as an older sister, but now I believe I understand what B'Elanna must feel for Miral, and Lieutenant Wildman feels about Naomi. I am so thankful to have you. You have cared for me, put up with me when I was unjust to you . . . and yes, I know there have been times I have been unjust . . . and, especially, although you realized my romance with Chakotay was fated to end poorly, you never said anything about it to me. You let me find out for myself; and when I was ready to talk about it, you listened. We have become a family far beyond my expectations. Perhaps I can say this now because the word has been said many times this weekend. I'm blessed to have you in my life. I could not have a better son."

Just as they had when the Doctor told Seven he would survive after the cortical node surgery transferring the essential Borg part from Icheb to Seven, several tears rolled out of Seven's eyes. Icheb found his own vision was blurred, and he was sure it was from the same bodily function. "Thank you, Seven. Or do you want me to call you 'Mom' or 'Annika' after all?" He smiled at that, because he was certain he knew the answer.

Of course, he did know what she would reply, but not the reason. "Seven _is_ still the name you should use. But Icheb, you must understand, whenever you call me 'Seven,' what I hear you say is 'Mommy.'"

=/\=


	70. First Anniversaries

=/\=

 _Stardate 55986.1 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _Today was a very big day - or I guess I should say yesterday was, since I'm writing this in the early morning hours, after the events are all over. Miral's first birthday party was held in the afternoon. Mrs. Paris scaled her plans back because of the big First Anniversary party in the evening, but it was still a pretty big deal. It was geared primarily to young children, but Naomi and I were both invited, too. Vedek Rikaar and her family are still here. They came to spend Thanksgiving with Admiral and Mrs. Paris, and she convinced them to spend the Christmas holidays with them, too. "Like old times," the vedek said. When she was at the Academy with Tom, she spent every Christmas break with the Paris family._

 _Chakotay had begged off because of the big dinner party in the evening, but Seven came to help Naomi and me control the masses of kids who had been invited. Naomi reminded her of her infamous "Fun will now commence" comment when she first brought Mezoti, the twins, and me to play Kadis-kot on Voyager. Seven is able to laugh now at how rigid she'd been then. I'm a little ashamed at the way I behaved that day. Even though I still believe I needed to assert myself at the time, I could have been less belligerent about it. I was glad to see that Seven enjoyed the birthday party. She ran the piñata-breaking activity with great - efficiency._

 _Miral's party ended at 1600 hours. We all had to rush home to get ready for the dinner that night, which started at 1900. When I entered with Farys and Verit on either arm, we arrived just before Seven walked in with Chakotay. They both sat up at the dais next to Captain Janeway. The rest of the senior staff was up there, too. I noticed Harry and Tom getting a little rowdy. I realize they were drinking some very good wine from the Picard family vineyards, but I think the fact this was likely to be the last grand "return" celebration for quite a while probably had a lot to do with their behavior. Of course, since Libby was sitting at the table with Admiral and Mrs. Paris, not next to Harry, that might have had something to do with their giddy mood, too._

 _Although Seven and Chakotay were sitting next to one another, whenever I looked at them, he was speaking with Captain Janeway, not Seven. I felt very bad for her. They still haven't announced their split publicly. From the way Captain Janeway was looking at Chakotay, I think she must know of it by now. During the break between the soup and main entrée courses, Seven came down to our table to say hello to all of us. Before she went back up to her seat, she whispered to me, "The heart hasn't grown fonder, but it's all right." I understood. I hope so._

 _I danced a little with Farys. Verit preferred to spend most of her time speaking with T'Pel, and with Tuvok, too, whenever he came down from the dais to be near his wife. He's looking very well. I asked T'Pel about Asil. They're working together on a new project which she can't tell me about yet. I told her I'm sorry I missed Asil, and asked T'Pel to let her know I was inquiring about her._

 _It's true. I get along with Vulcans very well. Unfortunately, most Vulcans wed other Vulcans. I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for a future mate._

 _Naomi was sitting with her parents at another table. I danced with her a couple of times, too. Her adolescent growth spurt, courtesy of her Ktarian heritage, has arrived. She's gotten tall and, I must say, very lovely. She told me she passed her academic examination for entrance to the Academy, but her parents don't want her to take the physical and psychological exams just yet. She won't be entering the Academy before her seventh birthday after all. "It's disappointing, but I know I have time," she told me. Sam is looking great. It's getting very easy to see Naomi's little brother whenever Sam turns her body sideways. She looks very happy. Gres looks even happier. Naomi said the baby will probably be born right around her own birthday. "My own personal birthday present," she said. Her eyes were twinkling, and I think she's very happy now she won't be an only child._

 _It was quite an honor for me to be placed at the same table as Admiral Paris and T'Pel. Unfortunately, that meant we were at the same table as Libby, too. I wish I could get over my aversion to her, but she did nothing last night to warm me to her presence. I think the admiral asked his wife to dance as frequently as he did to get away from her incessant chatter. Libby barely said two words to T'Pel all night, even though they were sitting next to one another. Verit had taken the seat next to T'Pel, however, and my little group made conversing with T'Pel a priority. From the first time I met T'Pel, I've been very impressed with her pleasant demeanor. She's very appropriately Vulcan at all times, but she exudes warmth in a way I can't really explain. Whenever I see them together, I understand why Tuvok is so devoted to his wife._

 _The biggest single topic of conversation at the table was whether or not Kathryn Janeway would accept promotion to admiral any time soon. Admiral Paris said, "It's only a matter of time. Whenever she says she wants it, she'll get it at once." Toward the end of the evening, after dessert had been served (no New York-style cheesecake, fortunately), Captain Picard came to our table, in the company of his chief medical officer, Dr. Beverly Crusher. At that point, the dais had emptied. Voyager's entire senior staff drew chairs up to our table and visited with each other. It was very crowded, so Verit and Farys left to speak with Naomi about what it was like to go to the Academy "from our perspective," as Verit put it._

 _As soon as the subject of Captain Janeway becoming Admiral Janeway was broached, the captain exchanged a quick glance with me. I thought she must be thinking about our visitor from the future. I know I was. Tom asked Captain Picard why he'd never accepted a promotion to admiral. Everyone knows it's been offered to him many times. Captain Picard said that he prefers to sit in the captain's chair. He'd rather be in the thick of the action rather than be the person who second-guessed the captains who had to act quickly, with whatever information they had available - even when it wasn't very much at all. When Admiral Paris said to Captain Janeway that captains had power, as well as admirals, but it was different from the kind admirals possessed, she said that as long as she's still a captain, she can look forward to becoming an admiral. If she's already an admiral, "The only thing I can look forward to is my retirement." Even though most of the people at the table laughed, I noticed Tom didn't look very happy. I didn't laugh. I would prefer she remain a captain for the rest of her life._

 _As the party was breaking up, Harry asked if anyone wanted to get together for a more private celebration after the New Year. He thought he might be able to get reservations at Sisko's in New Orleans sometime in January. Seven and Chakotay agreed to go, which surprised me. Seven and I are leaving for Sweden tomorrow, and the day after New Year's, we're scheduled to go to Brooklyn to meet more of Seven's mother's family. Seven will stay in Brooklyn for a couple of days, but the Delta Flyer project is finally wrapping up. She'll be needed here for that. This means she'd be available for dinner at Sisko's, though._

 _I thanked Harry for the invitation, but I want to visit longer with the McGinty side of the family. My semester break doesn't end for more than a week after Seven must return to San Francisco. The family promised to take me to see some of the sights of New York City, since I've never been there before. I want to order cheesecake while I'm there (although I don't plan to tell Seven). I'd like to see how the genuine article compares to the version I tasted in Texas._

 _I briefly spoke with Seven before I brought Verit and Farys back to campus. I admit, I was worried. I asked her if accepting Harry's plans for dinner meant she was reconsidering their relationship. She said no. "Reality has set in. It's over." She agreed to go to Sisko's because she doubts Chakotay will. "I suspect he wants me to be the one to let our friends know we're no long together. It's time. I'm tired of trying to avoid letting anyone know about his move to his own apartment. That happened weeks ago. I don't understand why he wants to keep it a secret."_

 _In that case, I told her, I hope she'll have a good time at the dinner. After all, she'll have to put up with Libby! She smiled and told me, "Don't worry. I can handle anything Mrs. Byrd can say or do to me." I'm sure she can!_

=/\=


	71. Happy Holidays

=/\=

Austin's family had invited them to "c'mon down to Texas" for Christmas, as Verit and Farys were doing. Seven and Icheb had to politely decline. They'd already promised to spend the holiday with Aunt Irene in Malmö. This time, however, the only traditional holiday event they would miss was Saint Lucia's Day. Aunt Irene was not deterred. On the morning after they arrived, the traditional cakes were delivered to Seven and Icheb, courtesy of Karl Magnus' daughter Anna-Lise, who wore a crown of lit candles on her head as she brought their breakfast. "The feast day is on December 13th, but since you couldn't be here, we decided to recreate it for you on the 23rd," Aunt Irene explained.

After the Saint Lucia's Day make-up breakfast, the family got together and wrote up a schedule of which family's home they were going to visit over the Christmas holidays, and when. They didn't plan to do much in the way of sightseeing this trip. During their first stay, all of the family gatherings took place at Aunt Irene's. This visit, the family members opened their homes to their newfound relatives to let them view decorations and enjoy a special dinner with each family. At the halfway point of their stay, on an evening which had been designated as "free, at home," Icheb commented, when they were alone, "The Hansen family appears to be very disciplined."

"Efficient may be a better term," Seven responded, smiling wryly.

"So maybe some of your love of efficiency was inherited from your family?"

"Or I may have learned it as a young child, while I was raised by my parents."

Icheb noticed that while Seven often seemed to be stifling anger when she spoke about her parents Magnus and Erin, on this occasion she seemed less so. Her mood was more pensive and a little melancholy. To raise her spirits a little, he countered, "So you aren't totally 'Borg,' Seven. Perhaps that's why the Borg placed you in the position they did. They noticed your natural traits and assigned you tasks that suited your innate personality."

"Your hypothesis has merit," Seven agreed with a smile, and her mood became much brighter.

Afterwards, Icheb wondered what sort of position he might have had if he _had_ become fully Borg. Since they didn't do experiments or invent anything, but rather assimilated technologies and people they coveted, Icheb decided his own talents would have been wasted as a drone. He hoped he would never have an opportunity to find out otherwise.

=/\=

On the day after New Year's, while they were packing to visit the McGinty relatives in Brooklyn before heading back to San Francisco, Aunt Irene bustled up to them and said, "I wish you could have stayed longer! Next time, you must visit us at solstice so you can enjoy our long, long days! It never really gets dark in midsummer."

Seven replied, "We may do that. Icheb is scheduled for a training cruise this summer, but I'll try to come, whether he's able to or not."

Aunt Irene nodded and said she hoped Icheb could come, too. Then she sat down and said, hesitantly, "You haven't mentioned your friend Chakotay at all this trip. Has something happened to him?"

"No, Aunt Irene. He's fine. We're just not together anymore."

"I'm so sorry, Dear."

"It's for the best. If we had remained in the Delta Quadrant longer, I believe we would have become permanently attached. Our abrupt return changed everything for us. For everyone, really. But if we didn't come back as soon as we did, Icheb and I might never have met you."

A teary-eyed Aunt Irene hugged both of them in turn. "I'm so glad I was able to meet you again, too. Our family was broken for such a long time. I'm so glad to have you back."

=/\=

As planned, Seven's visit with the McGinty side of her family lasted only two days before she moved on to San Francisco. Icheb stayed for the full week. While he did go into "the city" with his family three times for theatre-going and the sampling of many different Earth cuisines, as he wanted ("Just as many as in San Francisco," he whispered to his cousin Jamie at one point), he spent the rest of his time the same way he did during the recent visit to Scandinavia. As his great-grandfather had told him, he had a lot of aunts, uncles, and cousins in this area, and everyone wanted to meet the new relative from the other side of the galaxy.

Erin had been the middle child of five born to James and his late wife Mary. Her siblings all had at least four children each, some of whom were already producing another generation of McGintys. Icheb finally sat down one night and asked Seven's grandfather to help him make a genealogical chart so he could keep everyone straight. Since several of the cousins were close to Icheb in age, he had the chance to experience a different kind of family life from the one he knew on _Voyager_ , or even in Sweden, where the families were smaller in size. He remembered how sad he'd felt when Q left _Voyager_ , when they were still in the Delta Quadrant, and the only friend close to his age was Naomi. The large and friendly McGinty family gave him a taste of what growing up on Earth with a large and sometimes rambunctious family must be like.

When Icheb arrived at Seven's house after his return from Brooklyn, he said he had to agree with Aunt Irene. Summer, when the weather would allow for a greater range of activities, would be a better season for visits to Sweden or Brooklyn. "And Grandfather McGinty suggested spring would be even better in New York. And you can try some genuine New York style cheesecake!"

"I'll think about it," she replied to his tease. "I'm glad you're home, Icheb. I missed you."

"You haven't seen me for much longer when I've been on campus," he said.

"True, but I knew where you were most of the time. You were easier to reach. We hardly had a chance to communicate with each other while you were staying in Brooklyn."

"We did travel around a lot from house to house," he admitted. "Did you go to New Orleans for dinner the other night? Harry was able to get reservations at Sisko's, wasn't he?"

"Yes." She nodded emphatically, but she didn't say anything more until he encouraged her to "spill" what had happened. It was quite a tale.

As Seven had half-expected, Chakotay decided not to go after telling Harry he would. That left Seven to travel by herself to the restaurant and explain to their friends why he wasn't there. "Libby was simply . . . insufferable. The woman deliberately mistook every word I said. I think that's a big reason Tom and B'Elanna left even before our dinners were served. They took their meals home in carry-out containers."

"They left you alone with Harry and Libby?"

"They had a valid excuse. Miral had been crying much of the day. Her back teeth were breaking through her gums, and she was in pain. Mrs. Paris' birthday celebration was scheduled for the next day. Tom didn't want his mother dealing with a fussy Miral when there were things Mrs. Paris might wish to do to prepare for her party. I couldn't really blame them. The last thing they needed that night was to put up with someone acting more childishly than their baby - and for far less cause. After they left, Libby picked a fight with me over some sort of trifle. I can't even recall what started it now. She made a complete fool of herself, accusing me of having designs on her fiancé's body, of all things. If I'd wanted Harry's body, I could have had it years ago. At any rate, she stood up and said, 'Let's go, Harry,' expecting him to take her home.

"Harry refused to cave in to her demands. He said it wouldn't be right to do that to the restaurant staff, since our dinners had already been ordered. She flounced out by herself. If she really _was_ worried about me wanting to begin a relationship with Harry, she shouldn't have gone and left him there alone with me."

"I'm sorry you had such a terrible time, Seven."

"Actually, we had a good time once Libby made her exit. Harry was being . . . Harry. He tried to make excuses for her, but then he admitted he shouldn't bother. I had to agree. She isn't worthy of him. We stayed and had a very nice dinner. We took the opportunity to talk over many of our experiences on _Voyager_. I must admit I often wasn't nice to him. Harry was always trying to help me fit in, or as he put it, to make me 'part of the team,' and I was rude to him. I also told him truths he hadn't been ready to hear, but he never held that against me. He's a true officer and a gentleman, Icheb. While I may not have always been fair to him, he always was to me."

"I'm still sorry it happened. The next time we get together, I'll bet Libby will be even more insulting than she has been in the past."

"I don't know how much we'll see of her in the future. I went to Mrs. Paris' birthday party. Harry showed up briefly and told us what happened when he arrived at the apartment he was sharing with Libby. She made no effort to apologize for her behavior. They had a nasty fight, and Harry's moved back into his parents' home. His father never really liked Libby. He's happy they've broken their engagement. His mother is devastated. She wants grandchildren very badly. Harry told us, 'It's over.' He's had enough."

"Do you think he means it?"

"I do. Over dinner, we were honest with each other about the likelihood that neither of our relationships seemed destined to last. As you pointed out to me, when I was facing its end, my romance with Chakotay was influenced by a lack of other suitable mates on _Voyager_. Libby turned to Harry when he came back into her life so unexpectedly, when she was still mourning the loss of her husband Daniel Byrd. They were 'engaged' to be married, but they never made any plans for a wedding. Harry admitted to me that something always held him back from asking her to commit to a date. Perhaps he sensed their relationship wasn't based on true affection."

"So, now the field is clear! You can date Harry!"

She laughed lightly. "I don't know about that, but it will be very nice to be friends and coworkers again, without worrying about her jealousy. Harry and I work well together. We always have."

"What do Tom and B'Elanna think?"

"Tom told Harry, 'It's about time!' And B'Elanna never liked Libby, which isn't surprising. Libby is the antithesis of B'Elanna in every possible way. None of us will miss the Widow Byrd. You're not _too_ disappointed, are you, Icheb?"

"Not going to miss her at all!" Icheb replied, responding to Seven's teasing.

Later, when he was lying in bed, Icheb's thoughts turned to Seven and Harry. Was it possible they'd become a couple? Seven didn't think so, and Icheb didn't think it was too likely, either. Even though Icheb thought Harry would have been a much better match for Seven than Chakotay, she could have become involved with him years ago if she'd desired him. At least they could explore the possibility now, if they wished. If so, they'd better get started soon. Seven confirmed the Delta Flyer Project was finally finished. She would be leaving for Utopia Planitia very soon. Tom, B'Elanna and Miral were going there, too. Tom was assigned as chief test pilot for the new prototype. Harry would be up there for a while, too, but after final approval for building them came, he'd return to Earth to initiate the production of the Flyer series. Once that was running smoothly, if _Voyager_ still wasn't flying again, Harry would request a transfer. With his new rank of lieutenant commander, Harry's next post would likely be on a much bigger starship than _Voyager_.

And after that - well, who knew? The _Voyager_ team was breaking up. Icheb would miss them, but then, he was moving on, too. Professor Reagan had informed Icheb he'd been tabbed to head an Astrometrics field unit on his training cruise, which was scheduled to take place this summer. Icheb was lucky he'd had so many friends close by to him for this long. That was life in Starfleet, the career path he'd chosen to follow. He had to become accustomed to saying "good-bye" to his friends, even though he would be saying "hello" to new ones whenever he moved on himself.

=/\=


	72. The Rift

=/\=

 _Stardate 56036.9 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _I was called into the superintendent's office early this morning. He told me my training mission has been moved up, and I'm to pack my duffel and leave with a group of other cadets at 1300 hours for Spacedock. We're to be transported to our ship - and it's Voyager! The superintendent noted that I'd already been named as the leader of an Astrometrics training group. Because of my experience on Voyager, it made sense for my group to staff that ship. Then he said, "Cadet, this is a practical mission. We need additional bodies to staff Voyager." And then he explained what this was all about._

 _A rift is forming in space in an area between Vulcan and Earth. A convoy of ships will travel to the area to guard against whatever might come through it. He handed me a PADD with long range sensor telemetry. It wasn't a transwarp conduit aperture, and because of my experience in Astrometrics when the admiral came through, I knew it wasn't a temporal rift, either. And then I realized what it must be. "Fluidic Space?" I asked the superintendent, hoping I was wrong. He told me that's what it looked like to Professor Reagan and his colleagues, too._

 _When he informed me that Captain Janeway and her senior staff will be manning Voyager, I felt a little better. They've had experience inside Fluidic Space. I couldn't be assigned to a better place, and I knew it. I didn't say this to the superintendent, however. As I was about to leave, he told me that the names of the cadets in the group I was to supervise were on the PADD, too. I quickly checked the list. I didn't see many names I recognized at first, but then I saw Verit's. She seemed to be the only Xenobiology major included. I asked the superintendent if that was deliberate._

 _"It is, Cadet Hansen. Many of Voyager's original Science Department staff are still available in Sector 001 and will serve on Voyager. Although Cadet Verit specializes in Xenobiology, she possesses excellent credentials in Astrometrics, too, as I'm sure you're aware. Just as vital in this situation, you know her well and know you can trust her. When I suggested to Starfleet Personnel we add her to your unit and provided them with my rationale, they agreed, even though both of you are still in your junior year. Most of the other cadets are senior Engineering majors. A few are majoring in Astrometrics, but you've got practical experience all the others lack. We're putting you in charge. We believe you'll be up to the task."_

 _I thanked him for his confidence in me. He told me that by this time, the other cadets had been contacted by their advisors and were packing to join me. He dismissed me, and I rushed off to Archer Hall to pack my own duffel._

 _Farys and Austin were upset they weren't going with us. Word hasn't gotten around yet about the real reason our "training cruise" has been pushed forward so abruptly. Verit nodded slightly in approval when I told them we didn't have time to explain now, but I was sure they'd learn all about it before we got back. When they heard me say that, I think they got the message this isn't a normal training mission._

 _There are twenty of us. While I'm nominally the leader of the cadets, my true leadership role will be in Astrometrics. The engineers were called in to supplement Commander Torres' staff. She has more vacancies than anyone else, since more of her staff took positions on other ships. Some, like Freddie Bristow, had decided to resign their commissions to find work in the civilian arena. We've been waiting for a long time for Voyager to relaunch._

 _The ironic thing is, Freddie's here on board. In the zoo that was Spacedock, I saw him standing with - of all people - Marla Gilmore and Mortimer Herron. Mortimer was on vacation from his dream job on Orion One. His leave was cancelled, and he was sent up to Voyager to serve with us. Marla was even more of a surprise. I'll have to speak with Marla later to find out how she managed to be here. I didn't have time then because we were placed on different transports bound for Utopia Planitia. Voyager was waiting for us there._

 _=/\=_

 _Stardate 56041.2 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _It's been difficult keeping up with my personal log. We're very busy with drills of all kinds. The refit changed some ways the ship is controlled or handled, but after the first few practice runs, I was able to get a good feel for the changes. I figured out how most of Astrometrics worked on my own, even before Seven came in and gave me and my staff a quick lesson on how to work all the controls. It feels very funny to call my fellow cadets "my staff," but I'm in charge of the ones who work in Astrometrics or Stellar Cartography more than I expected. Megan Delaney, who's now a full lieutenant, is in charge of Stellar Cartography, so that's good. Jenny isn't on board. She's on Deep Space Nine, interviewing for a position on that station. If we survive whatever happens here, I think she'll be annoyed she isn't with her twin. Seven is the head of Astrometrics, of course, but I'm second in command, even over any regular crew who might serve here. Seven believes the captain will want her at her bridge station once we arrive at the rift's location, so I'll be in charge of Astrometrics then, since I know more about how everything works than anyone but Seven or Harry. He'll be on the bridge at the rift, too._

 _I wish I hadn't put, "if we survive," in my log, even though it's true. We have no doubt now we're dealing with a rift between our space and the realm of Species 8472. I've held a couple of meetings in the Mess Hall, familiarizing the cadet crew with Fluidic Space and its people. Most of what I know comes from the logs, since Voyager's contacts all predate my arrival on the ship; but I've had more time than the others to study our encounters with the species._ _Commander Tuvok assigned me to study them when he was tutoring me. None of the others had such access._

 _Commander Tuvok was on Vulcan._ _He's traveling to the rift's location on another ship and will meet us there._ _Until he arrives, Lieutenant Ayala is heading Security and Tactical. Admiral Paris is with us on Voyager. Sam Wildman and Gres are both here, too, but Naomi remained behind with Mrs. Paris and Miral. Tom and B'Elanna are here. While Mrs. Paris is used to having her husband and son go off into space, caring for Miral and Naomi is a new experience. Tom told me, in private, that she's very worried about all of us, "but she knows it's our duty." Naomi begged to be allowed to come, but her parents told her very firmly they wouldn't allow it. Naomi eventually realized that accepting her parent's edict would be a sign of her maturity when her application to the Academy was submitted this spring. She wants to enroll this September. I certainly hope that can still happen. A lot will depend upon how this encounter turns out._

 _I finally caught up with Marla a couple of days ago in the Mess Hall with Noah Lessing! They told me, as far as Starfleet Personnel is concerned, that their post-resignation "benefits" from Starfleet included being reservists for the next three years. When they were called up, they were shocked. Marla told me it's a good sign, though. It means Starfleet Personnel didn't know about the forced aspect of their resignations. The secret of the Equinox must be holding. Admiral Paris himself contacted them and told them, under the circumstances, they didn't have to serve. Marla and Noah both told him they wanted to be here with their crewmates. Marla's sister's family is caring for Aimee._

 _At this point, we're all as ready as we can expect to be after a shakedown cruise of such short duration. Fortunately, the rift is opening very slowly. According to Tom, when they went into Fluidic Space years ago, when Seven first came as a Borg to Voyager, the rifts opened more quickly. However, they didn't have to be that big for one ship to slip through. As this one grows, we're wondering how big the ship or ships will be when they finally emerge._

 _Just in case, I prepared a "last message" for Mezoti , and one for Seven, too, even though she's on Voyager with me. It's possible she could survive even if I don't. The message for Mezoti was sent back to Earth and will be sent through the datastream if anything happens to me. I wanted her to know that whatever happens to us here, "I treasure my little sister. I've always missed you, Five of Six. I'm very glad I got the chance to know you. Be happy in whatever you do." It goes without saying I hope there's never a need for Commander Harkins to send it to her (even though I just did)._

 _He'd be the one to transmit it, because Lieutenant Commander Barclay is on Voyager with us. I think he's the only one here who's truly delighted to be serving during this crisis. His fondest wish has been granted: Lieutenant Commander Reginald Barclay, serving under Captain Kathryn Janeway on Voyager - just "one of the guys."_

=/\=


	73. The Rift Opens

=/\=

The signs were there. Every instrument monitoring the Rift told Seven and Icheb the same thing. Several ships were approaching, on course to emerge into what was now being called Dry Space by everyone in the convoy.

A few seconds after Verit stepped into Astrometrics to serve her morning shift, Captain Janeway called Seven to the bridge. Icheb nodded to his adoptive mother as she walked out of the lab. The night before, the two had taken the time to talk about experiences they'd never gotten around to sharing with the other before. While neither of them mentioned the words, "just in case we never get the chance again," that possibility loomed large in both of their minds. Icheb was glad that Verit would be with him during this critical time. She always maintained a sense of calm under difficult conditions, which this promised to be.

Every nerve and residual Borg implant in Icheb's body virtually buzzed with anticipation as well as dread. The crisis would be resolved soon, one way or another. With a friend like Verit here, he knew this station would be manned efficiently. Verit worked well in tandem with him, just as he always worked did when he backed up Seven.

The wait was agonizing, even though barely ten minutes elapsed before the first of the ships finally emerged. As each followed another, they formed a line in front of the rift. "I count twelve ships, Icheb. They are bioships, are they not?" Verit asked.

"Yes. The organic lines are distinctive. In fact, the ships are composed of living tissue," Icheb confirmed. "I've seen images through my studies of _Voyager's_ logs, but I also know it from my Borg memories. It's interesting. While I retain much of what was instilled in me during my time in the maturation chamber, there are gaps in my knowledge. The ability to recognize the bioships of Species 8472 is clearly imprinted in my brain. The Borg Queen must have feared they would retaliate against the Collective at some point. Every drone was to realize who they were as soon as they appeared."

"Is it true that your mother Annika told Captain Janeway they were invading our space?"

"The Borg Queen instructed her to say that, but Species 8472 were only defending themselves when the Borg attempted to assimilate their species because of its unique properties. They came into our space in a counterattack. The Borg were the aggressors."

"From the manner in which the bioships have aligned themselves, they do not appear to be taking an aggressive stance towards our convoy," Verit observed.

"I agree," Icheb replied, in a surprised tone of voice. "They've left a large hole in the center of their formation, right in front of the rift. That's poor tactics if they mean to attack. It appears they're waiting for another ship or ships to arrive to fill in that gap."

Verit suggested, "It's as if they're on picket duty, guarding the entrance to the Rift. Not surprising, if you consider the Borg once invaded their space, and that's an entrance into it."

Icheb shook his head. He'd come to the same conclusion. "And we're doing the same thing, in a way, Verit. We're guarding our space from them."

"I trust they'll offer some sort of communication to our convoy before making any aggressive moves," Verit stated evenly, although Icheb could see she was gripping the side of her console so tightly, the fingers of her left hand twitched several times, and the color of the skin had lightened noticeably from the pressure.

"I trust. Perhaps I should say, I hope," Icheb replied, glancing over at his suitemate. She looked back at him and tipped her head ever so slightly, acknowledging that he'd expressed something she herself may feel, but would never state openly in front of anyone but her husband.

Icheb wondered if Torin knew anything about the events happening here. Were bioships appearing in other quadrants as well as this one? Was this, in fact, an invasion? There was nothing more for them to do but wait as patiently as they knew how. And wonder.

=/\=

After enduring two hours of almost unbearable tension, Verit announced that three other ships appeared to be approaching the entrance into Dry Space.

"Yes, but they aren't bioships. At least the first two are not." Icheb sucked in his breath suddenly. "They're Borg spheres!"

Verit maintained her equanimity better than Icheb had. "The third _is_ a bioship. Quite the largest we have seen. Does it appear to be in pursuit of the Borg vessels?"

The three ships burst out almost simultaneously. The bioship, which was, indeed, larger by a factor of three than any of the other ships in line, smoothly pulled into the center of the gap. The two Borg spheres pulled alongside the large bioship, one on either side. While neither of the spheres could be considered small, they were far from the largest of their type. Icheb decided neither of them were bigger than the Borg Resistance ships reported by Neelix and Mezoti.

Icheb had maintained an open channel to the bridge, with the audio turned down to a very low volume. As Icheb had informed Verit, "I find it valuable to keep track of what is happening in this way, especially when the captain makes contact with another vessel." Increasing the audio volume and widening the angle of the image along the side of their large screen, Icheb could see the bridge's main viewscreen, with Tom's head just beneath it as he manned the helm. The cadets watched and listened as Harry announced that the largest bioship was hailing _Voyager_.

The view of the bioships in front of the Rift split into thirds, revealing images of the beings manning three ships. The equivalent of the bioship bridge filled the center of the screen, while the views on each side revealed Borg vessel interiors.

"Isn't that old Boothby, the Academy gardener?" Verit asked, pointing to a white-haired human figure in the exact center of the screen.

"Not the gardener himself, I'm sure. This must be his facsimile from the station Captain Janeway and Chakotay visited before I came on board _Voyager._ They met him there. That suggests the woman is called Valerie Archer. Captain Chakotay also met her at that station."

"The other male looks like Admiral Bulloch," Verit said. "But the person on the left. He looks like a Klingon Borg."

"General Korok! I met him on _Voyager_ once. He visited our ship after his sphere helped us rescue Captain Janeway, Commander Tuvok, and B'Elanna Torres. Mezoti said he visited the Borg recovering on Wysanti a short while ago. I'm surprised he could travel here so quickly."

When the Klingon Borg image spoke, Icheb's identification was confirmed; but against all protocol, the person Korok addressed was not the captain. "Paris! It's good to see you again, and under better circumstances, I trust."

Icheb and Verit exchanged hasty glances with one another. "Better circumstances? That sounds positive, Icheb, does it not?" she said.

Icheb didn't get a chance to respond. He heard a gasp, and then his mother murmured a name. "Axum!" He turned his attention the to the other side of the split screen. The person standing there was also formerly Borg. When he spoke, Icheb remembered his voice from anxious, often shadowy fragments Mezoti had transmitted to him when he was still capable of communicating subvocally, during the time she was so upset by Seven's visits to Unimatrix Zero. Before he could answer Verit, the image spoke in the hissing, husky flutter of an improperly functioning vocal processor. Icheb knew those sounds well from when he'd had issues with his, when his Children's Collective first encountered _Voyager_. "Annika, it iss alsso good to ssee you oncse again."

The Boothby image interjected, "Well, now, that's a good start. We've found friends on the good ship _Voyager_. I hope the rest of the folks on your ships are just as willing to talk first before firing their weapons at us. We've come to visit. We need to relay some things you need to know and, I suspect, do a fair amount of negotiating, too. Peace talks, I gather you call it?"

Verit slapped her palm against the side of her console. Icheb leaned forward and took several very deep breaths in rapid succession. Verit had once told him this was a good preliminary to initiate meditative techniques. Deep cleansing breaths were calming.

Peace. Not war. It was almost too good to be true.

But, as it turned out, it was true.

=/\=

A select group of admirals and captains boarded _Voyager_ later that day at the request of the representatives of Species 8472 and the Borg Resistance. As the Boothby facsimile explained when the location of the initial talks was discussed, some of their people had met Captain Janeway and her crew before and trusted them. "We don't know the rest of you yet, so I hope your love of protocol doesn't force you to insist we have our first meeting anywhere else." Consensus was quickly reached. The Federation would be pleased to hold the first meeting on _Voyager_.

At Icheb's request, Verit was put in charge of Astrometrics by Seven that afternoon, when the first meeting would take place. Three other cadets and Noah Lessing were also stationed in Astrometrics for that shift, to keep close watch on the bioships and Borg spheres, as well as the Rift itself. Captain Janeway suggested Icheb should be given his freedom for the duration of the first talks, since he was acquainted with Korok. Icheb thanked the captain and stood on the bridge next to Seven as the guests began to arrive.

When several Species 8472 representatives, Captain Korok, and Axum exited the turbolift for the meeting, Captain Janeway was standing there to greet the visitors. The two former Borg stepped to the right, not the left, allowing the others to pass by them. The captain smiled slightly and said blandly, "Would you like to say hello to the people on the bridge you've met previously . . . in one reality, or the other?"

Korok, true to form, responded heartily, "I would indeed! The estimable Commander Chakotay! Good to see you again. And your 'first officer,' Lieutenant Paris! Greetings! Your wife is well again after her ordeal, I understand?"

The captain stepped in and corrected her guest. "There have been several promotions given out since you last visited _Voyager_. It's now Captain Chakotay and Lieutenant Commander Paris. And B'Elanna is also a Lieutenant Commander."

"Well deserved!" Korok exclaimed, clapping Chakotay on the back with sufficient force so that the captain - who was currently filling the first officer post on _Voyager_ \- had to take a step forward to maintain his balance.

As Lieutenant Jenkins slipped into the helm chair to relieve Tom, the helmsman walked up to the group and exchanged a Klingon salute with Korok before vigorously shaking his hand.

While all this was going on, a much quieter introduction was taking place on the upper ramp of the bridge. Axum slowly approached the station Seven always assumed when she was on the bridge. At first he said nothing, but as he peered intently into Seven's eyes, Icheb, standing behind her, felt like an interloper. At last Axum took a final step towards her, close enough to touch Seven's Borg-enhanced left hand. "We were sso far apart, but now I'm closse enough to touch you. Perhapss a visit to Vorothon Gorge iss no longer out of the quesstion."

Uncharacteristically, Seven didn't seem to know what to say, but Icheb felt their powerful attraction. There was no overt sign of their connection, but Icheb knew it was there, lingering even after Axum pulled his hand away from Seven's and stepped aside to let her pass. The captain had requested Seven's presence at the meeting. Icheb would cover her station on the bridge, even though, technically, he wasn't on duty at the moment. Nothing was going to pull him away from _Voyager's_ bridge now, short of the direst of emergencies down in Astrometrics.

As Axum and Seven stepped quietly away, in the direction of the corridor leading to the conference room, Icheb looked around. No one seemed to be looking at the pair. Korok's effusive conversation with Chakotay and Tom had taken center stage. Icheb wondered if there was a method to that mad performance. Had Axum asked Korok to distract everyone else on the bridge while his first "real life" meeting with his Annika took place? Whether he had or not, that's what had occurred.

Finally, a gruff old voice issued forth from the corridor near the turbolift. "Much as we've all enjoyed this reunion, we're here for a reason, not simply to . . . what do your people call it? Cavort with one another?"

"Close enough," Captain Janeway chuckled. "He's right. Just about everyone else has arrived. We can socialize after the meeting, if all goes well. As it must, for all of our sakes!"

The number of people on the bridge rapidly declined. Tuvok took over the captain's command chair. Ayala stepped in for him at Tactical. Harry stood at his normal station. Lieutenant Jenkins remained at the helm, since Admiral Paris had requested his son serve as his attaché at the meeting. The other backups all returned to their assigned positions, waiting to be called into action if and when their assistance was needed. For now, all they could do was speculate about the momentous talks which were taking place in the conference room. And wait.

All of the parties assembled here had just cause not to trust each other, yet they also had ample evidence such trust may be warranted. They must try to find a way to work with each other, for the good of all.

While Icheb stood behind Tuvok, he monitored the activities of Verit and his "staff" in Astrometrics. He was alert and attentive to his task, but in one corner of his mind, he was aware of a tingling sensation traveling through his spine, along the implant running the length of his vertebrae, and right down to the tips of his toes. He was privileged to be on board _Voyager_ at this critical moment in time. Decisions would be made that would affect the Milky Way galaxy and, quite possibly, the entire universe.

That wasn't the only reason he was thrilled. Seven had been so certain she'd never see Axum again. Unimatrix Zero had been destroyed. She'd learned his physical body was at the other side of the galaxy in the Beta Quadrant, among the stars of the galactic fringe. She'd thought they were too far away from each other to ever have the opportunity to meet in person. Yet now Axum was right here, in the flesh. Was it possible his adoptive mother would discover she'd never lost her true "First Love" after all?

=/\=

While Icheb, through sheer force of will, maintained his attention to his tasks, his natural curiosity about the changes made at Utopia Planitia to the console in front of him lured him into a surreptitious examination of the bridge Astrometrics station. This was Icheb's first visit to this post on the bridge since the refit. Some changes were quite minute, but the dials and controls seemed subtly different. His need to maintain contact with Verit in Astrometrics, coupled with his study of the console, caused him to lose track of time. As a result, he was momentarily startled when a crowd of people issued from the direction of the conference room, chatting with each other as they waited for their turn on the turbolift. The meeting must have ended, and from the pleased, or at least, non-angry faces on those leaving this deck, the meeting must have gone well. Icheb couldn't detect any signs of discord among them, even though he could see a mix of Starfleet people with the newcomers.

Before the last person waiting for the turbolift had been accommodated, Icheb's communicator signal was activated. _:::Cadet Icheb, please report to the conference room.:::_

He exchanged surprised glances with Harry as he responded, "Acknowledged, Captain."

Now the cadet was even more curious. What did the captain need him for, so soon after this momentous occasion?

=/\=


	74. Critical Information

=/\=

When he entered the conference room, he noticed several individuals who were still sitting around the table. Besides Captain Janeway, Captain Chakotay, and Admiral Paris, he saw Seven, Tom Paris, the Doctor, Captain Picard, Admiral Bulloch, General Korok, and next to him, Axum. The Species 8472 replicant of Boothby and the woman he hadn't recognized sat near the former Borg.

"At ease, Cadet. As I said to Mr. Kim a very long time ago, relax before you break something! Please, take a seat."

Icheb heard a slight chuckle coming from Tom's direction, although Seven's face bore a grim expression. If Tom could find humor in the situation, Icheb thought everything was _probably_ going to be all right.

The captain identified everyone at the table Icheb didn't know. The woman _was_ Valerie Archer. And, much to his surprise, this Admiral Bulloch was not the admiral who was stationed on the _Australia_. "You are also a member of Species 84 . . . I mean, you are from Fluidic Space?"

"Hrrumph. Yes, I'm that Admiral Bulloch."

The Boothby replicant chuckled, "I see you're aware that we despise being called by a Borg designation. Has Mr. Paris told you about his term for our people?"

"No, sir. I can't say that he has."

Tom responded, "I've been calling them Fluidians in my personal logs for a long time. Our Fluidian friends have decided they like it. And it's a lot easier to say than all of those numbers," Tom replied with a grin.

Ignoring Tom's response, the Bulloch replicant said to Icheb, "I see you were once Borg, Cadet."

"I was only partially assimilated, but yes. That would be an accurate statement."

After Icheb's reply, there was a lull in the conversation, marked only by the sounds of the chairs around the table creaking as the individuals sitting on them shifted their weight from side to side. Icheb wished they'd tell him why they'd called him in to see them. He had no idea why they would wish to speak to a third-year cadet.

When Admiral Paris broke the silence in the room, Icheb was relieved, since he was sure the true reason he'd been called in to speak with such an august group was about to be revealed. "Cadet, we have information we'd like to share with you prior to our general announcement about this meeting. First, since you must be curious about what took place here, we've agreed to work on a treaty between the Federation, the Fluidians, and the Borg Resistance Movement, in order to secure long term peace and a close working relationship. We're in the preliminary stages, of course, but we've made a strong beginning. I'm optimistic we'll succeed."

"That's very good news, Admiral Paris." Icheb smiled at Korok. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Axum turn his face to Seven and touch her hand lightly.

"It is, young Icheb," General Korok stated, showing his teeth in a broad Klingon grin.

"There is, however, some news our visitors brought us which we believe will upset some Federation citizens." The admiral hesitated and took a deep breath before continuing, "Better than almost anyone, you're aware of the steps the crew of _Voyager_ took which allowed the ship to return to the Alpha Quadrant at the time it did."

"Yeeesss," Icheb said, dragging the word out so that it sounded the way it would have when he was still on his Collective's cube, before Seven adjusted his vocal processor. How open could he be about Admiral Janeway's involvement? Glancing around the table, he thought most of those sitting here, if not all, probably knew about her by now, but it wouldn't hurt to be circumspect. "Are you speaking about the substance I helped the Doctor prepare that was, uh, delivered to the Queen's Unicomplex?"

"I'd say the boy has a future in diplomacy," the Boothby replicant commented.

"You may speak openly about our visitor from the future, Cadet. Everyone at this table knows about Admiral Janeway's involvement," Admiral Paris informed him. "Yes, we _are_ speaking about the serum you developed, which was injected into Admiral Janeway before she went through the transwarp hub and invaded the Unicomplex. We might as well call it an invasion, in this room, at least. That's what it was."

"The Doctor and I worked on it together, Admiral," Icheb demurred.

"Much as I'd like to take the credit," the Doctor said, "I only assisted you in its development. While I have sufficient knowledge of the genetic resequencing techniques we used, it was your genome we modified. I doubt I could have developed that serum independently."

Icheb silently thought about all the people who'd contributed to the development of the serum. "Without my parents' actions when they altered my DNA to use me against the Borg, I wouldn't have had that resource lodged in my chromosomes for us to use."

"True, Icheb," Captain Janeway admitted. "From speaking with Seven, I know that's been something you've found difficult to accept."

"It hasn't always been easy, but facts are facts. My parents gave birth to me to become a weapon against the Borg. The only thing the Doctor and I changed was the method of delivery. Instead of me producing the pathogen from my own body, after I was assimilated, the admiral was injected with the means to produce a neurolytic pathogen if the Borg assimilated her. Are you confirming this is the reason the transwarp conduit system is no longer in operation?"

"Not only that, Cadet Icheb," Korok stated. "The Borg Collective as we have known it was also destroyed. We have investigated the former site of the Unicomplex. There is nothing there but tiny bits of debris. After an extensive search of the galaxy, there is no sign of it anywhere else, either. We believe the Queen herself assimilated the Admiral Janeway. It's the only explanation for such complete devastation of the Borg."

"Are you saying that billions of drones died, along with the Queen?" Icheb had trouble imagining this was possible.

"We believe the number wass probably in the trillionss," Axum clarified, hissing many sounds because of his faulty vocal processor, "We've exsplored the four quadrantss with the help of the people of Fluidic Sspace. Sseveral sspheress exisst in the far reachess of the Gamma Quadrant. They were probably too far away for the pathogen to do itss work before their link wass broken when the Queen died, sso they sssurvived. Thesse droness operate asss a Collective on their own shipsss, but none have any link to other Borg vessselsss - nor do they desssire any. Even that far out, none of the cubesss or larger sspheresss are intact. Mosst of the other droness we've found have adjussted to individuality to ssome degree, including the group known to Captain Picard and led by the former drone Hugh. There iss another group which callss itsself the Cooperative that Captain Chakotay met. If we do disscover other living droness who were linked directly to the Queen at the time of her desstruction, it will come asss a great ssurprisse."

A hush came over the room. Even Icheb's parents Yifay and Leucon could never have predicted their decision to turn their son into a weapon against the Borg would have such destructive power when it was fully unleashed.

"This confirms what Ambassador Neelix has been telling you through Operation Watson, doesn't it, Admiral Paris? And Mezoti's messages to us from Wysanti?"

"It does, Cadet," Admiral Paris said softly.

"Icheb, if you're bothered by this, please, come see me," Seven said anxiously. "The captain has already granted us leave from our duties if you require my aid."

He thought carefully before he answered her. "No, I don't think that will be necessary. It _is_ a lot to take in; but when the Doctor and I developed that serum, we knew if it worked the way we hoped, it might have such consequences. We even spoke of that once in Sickbay, do you remember, Dr. Zimmerman?"

"I do, Icheb. We spoke of something else that day, too."

"Yes. My destiny." Icheb leaned forward, placed his elbows on the table, and looked out over the heads of those sitting between him and the conference room windows. He had a clear view of space, but it didn't register at that moment. He was looking back in time, into his past. "After _Voyager_ rescued me, after my parents sent me to be assimilated by the Borg a second time, I was angry with them. But then I spoke to you, Tom, and you helped me gain perspective about my parents. I had to understand that all beings are imperfect. It is the striving for perfection that is important, even though none of us will ever be able to attain it."

"I remember, Icheb," Tom replied.

"I eventually came to wonder if I would have volunteered to let the Borg assimilate me, if my parents had bothered to tell me why it was so important. I spoke of it in Astrometrics with Seven one day, too. I told you it might have been my destiny to destroy the sphere that was coming after me. Do you remember that?"

"I've never been able to forget it," she solemnly said. "I told you that you might decide to fight the Borg yourself someday, but as an individual, and in a manner of your own choosing."

Icheb nodded his head in agreement. "And now, it seems I have. I've destroyed not just that sphere, but multitudes. I guess it was my destiny to act as a weapon against the Borg after all - just not the way my parents planned for it to happen."

"Your parents decided to protect their home planet by sacrificing your existence as an individual," Tom said. "Instead, you may have saved the entire _galaxy_ from the Borg, because you remained an individual and were able to choose to take action against them."

"And also because I was willing to set aside my bitterness and work with the tools they'd placed into my DNA. Life is very strange, isn't it?"

Icheb's eyes began to work again the way they should, taking in the images of those who sat with him at the table. The two captains, Janeway and Chakotay, who were openly acknowledged as a couple now. His adoptive mother, whom he noticed was sitting very close to Axum. Tom and his father Admiral Paris, whose own difficult relationship now appeared to be warm and loving - or Tom would not have been at this big meeting with his father, at the admiral's request. Captain Picard, who had been, for a very brief time, the Borg Locutus, tabbed by the Borg Queen to act as her "liaison" to the beings she wished to subjugate. General Korok, who had been assimilated by the Borg at Wolf 359, but who was now free. The Valerie Archer, Admiral Bulloch, and Boothby Fluidian replicants, who hopefully would soon become good friends with the Federation. And Dr. Mark Zimmerman, their EMH-Mark-1, who had been his partner in developing the "ultimate weapon," despite the Doctor's avowal that his primary dictum was, "First, do no harm."

"Very strange," Icheb repeated softly, almost at a whisper.

After this utterance, no one spoke for a prolonged period, despite the presence in the room of several notably loquacious individuals of various species. The thought that trillions were lost to death, after they'd already lost the ability to live full, independent lives, was overwhelming. What could anyone say in the face of such a tragedy?

"Well, now," Admiral Paris finally said, "unless one of you has something else to add to our discussion, I suggest we adjourn this meeting. Our priority must be the preparation of a statement to share throughout our respective fleets concerning our future meetings, which we hope will lead to a lasting agreement. Anyone?" He paused, but no one responded.

"Then this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for remaining after our first meeting."

Captain Janeway turned to Icheb and gently placed her hand on his forearm, "And thank you, Icheb. If there's anything at all you wish to speak with me about, do not hesitate to contact me."

As the participants began to filter out of the room, Icheb approached his adoptive mother. Axum was standing next her and said, "I have many questionss I wishh to assk, but for now, let me just ssay I'm very pleased to meet Annika'ss sson."

Seven put her arms around Icheb and hugged him very closely. Icheb was suddenly reminded of her good-byes to Azan, Rebi, and Mezoti. Seven and Icheb were family; nothing would change that; but he realized he was saying a kind of good-bye to her now, too. With this meeting, he'd crossed a bridge to his future. He could not escape his past or alter it the way Admiral Janeway had done, nor did he wish to.

Icheb perceived, however, that Seven herself - or rather, Annika Hansen, as everyone else was finally beginning to call her - had crossed a bridge to her own future. Axum had been someone precious to her while she was a drone in the Collective. Now he might turn out to be a vital part of her future as an individual as well. In fact, because of their shared past in Unimatrix Zero, Icheb was almost certain of it. They seemed so at ease in each other's presence, with their bodies in close proximity, suggesting an intimacy he'd never seen from her before, even when Seven and Chakotay were a couple. In fact, they already reminded Icheb of another couple he knew very well: Tom, when he was with his B'Elanna.

Icheb knew this wasn't the right time to say anything like this to them now, although he knew he had to say something to them. Then Icheb recalled an incident from his own past which made him smile.

"Axum, I notice your vocal processor has what we call a 'glitch' in it."

"Yeesss, I have been very buusssy and have not had it fixxxed yet."

"Seven repaired a glitch in mine a long time ago. She's very good at it. It will only take a few moments for the adjustment. And it won't hurt at all."

Axum turned to her and rattled out, "Would you be willing to do thiss for me, Annika?"

They smiled warmly at each other as she said, "Of course. If you come to Cargo Bay Two, I'll be happy to take care of it for you."

As Icheb followed Seven and Axum out of the conference room, he realized his relationship with Seven would change, although how, he didn't yet know. As apprehensive Icheb had felt about what would happen to him when Seven began dating Chakotay, he felt nothing like that now. Was it because Axum shared being Borg with Icheb, as he did with his Annika? That was undoubtedly it. And the more Icheb thought about what was happening here, the better he felt.

His thoughts turned to Mezoti. For two long years Icheb and his Norcadi sister had been separated by many light years of space. While he was happy technology existed which allowed them to communicate with each other, Icheb needed to be able to speak with her in real time, and better yet, in person. He wondered how soon Federation ships might be able to reach her on Wysanti. If Seven and Icheb ever did welcome Axum into their family, he wanted his sister to be part of it, too.

=/\=


	75. Negotiations

=/\=

 _Star Date 56057.9 Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb Hansen_

 _Everyone says the treaty talks are going very well. Sessions are alternating between a room inside the Fluidian's largest bioship, which they've converted for "Dry Space Dweller Use," and the conference room on the Enterprise. Captain Picard has as much experience conducting sensitive treaty negotiations as most of the admirals in Starfleet. The fact that he knows what it's like to be Borg, even for a little while, smooths the way with the Borg Resistance drones. Of course, that's true of Captain Janeway, too, since she allowed herself to be partially assimilated when she went to a cube to save the Unimatrix Zero drones from being destroyed by the Queen. Her presence, along with Captain Chakotay's, soothes the Fluidians because of their "Second Contact" with them on their training station in the Delta Quadrant. Boothby admits that the meetings on Voyager at that time made a big difference when their "operatives" in the Alpha Quadrant confirmed what she'd told them. The clashes going on during the Dominion War had nothing at all to do with the Borg or Fluidic Space, and they couldn't detect any plans by the Federation to attack them. T_ _hey also reported that Captain Janeway told them the truth when she said few people in the Alpha Quadrant were aware of the existence of Fluidic Space at the time of their second meeting in the Delta Quadrant. Although Starfleet learned about the Borg attack on the Fluidians through the logs Captain Janeway sent through the Hirogen network shortly before that communication system was destroyed, no dialogue about the report could take place until after Project Pathfinder succeeded in contacting Voyager, when regular contact between the ship and the Alpha Quadrant became feasible. That happened during the sixth year of Voyager's journey, only a couple of months before our Children's Collective came on board._

 _Of course, the Admiral Bulloch replicant still isn't exactly thrilled with Seven. She'd obeyed the Borg Queen's orders to lie to Captain Janeway about their invasion of Fluidic Space so that Voyager would also attack them in their own realm. Seven had read the essay I wrote for Admiral Virdian. (Fortunately, I'd taken Admiral Virdian's advice and submitted it to the editors of the Academy Literary Magazine, and they published it.) She showed it to Axum, who shared it with the Fluidians, to give them an "insider's view" of being Borg. The Queen was responsible for the actions of the drones, who were helpless to disobey her. He mellowed a little after that. The Boothby and Valerie Archer replicants adjusted to Seven more quickly. I'm not sure what Captain Janeway told them about her, but she **was** on Voyager when they visited the training station. It's possible that helped them realize Seven had also been a tool of the Queen. _

_By the way, from now on I'm just going to call the Fluidians Bulloch, Archer, and Boothby in this log. Adding "replicant" to their names is cumbersome. The real Admiral Bulloch has been part of some meetings, but if I use his rank when I refer to him, there should be no confusion. And unless the real Boothby shows up, there won't be any misunderstandings about which Boothby I'm talking about, either. I understand the humanoid Commander Valerie Archer presently works in the Beta Quadrant as a liaison to the Andorians, so I don't think it's likely she'll show up here anytime soon, either._

 _Anyway, the talks are proceeding at a rapid pace. Ships from the Klingon Empire have arrived to take part, as have several from other governments which are not part of the Federation. A few are allies, like the Bajorans. While the Cardassians aren't allies, the ones in power now, like Elim Garak, are working so hard to rebuild their world that they've accepted how vital achieving a lasting peace with the Fluidians would be. They've also learned that some of their own people on ships that were "lost" over the past several years were among those assimilated by the Borg. They want to welcome the survivors - and there are a few - back home to Cardassia Prime._

 _The Romulans have shown up, too. Tom says you can always trust the Romulans to show up to protect their interests - or if they sense an opportunity to create turmoil. I don't think they're going to be able to do much to disrupt these talks. Now that several meetings have taken place, it's very clear to everyone that the Fluidians have been keeping a very close eye on the "Dry Space" peoples for several years, just as Boothby told Captain Janeway on their station in the Delta Quadrant. They have a pretty good idea about the differences between Klingons, who bluster but are committed to their code of honor, and Romulans, who talk about honor but exhibit an amazing capacity for duplicity. Maybe knowing how vulnerable everyone is because of the power of bioships might make the Romulans a little more likely to cooperate. I hope so!_

 _Although all the meetings are taking place on other ships, once a session is over, the Fluidians and the former Borg we know like to visit Voyager to discuss matters on a more relaxed basis. According to Admiral Paris, a lot of diplomacy occurs this way. He told me to remember that. I don't know why, since I don't expect to become a full-time diplomat. If he's hinting I'll have a shot at following in the footsteps of someone like Captain Picard one day, I'm flattered; but I'm not about to let it go to my head._

 _One former Borg spends almost all of his time here now. Axum is practically a resident. He goes to his own sphere daily to check up on his people, but he spends his nights regenerating in Cargo Bay Two. All four alcoves in Borg Central are active once again. I have a portable regeneration unit to use, but I did hook up one night after visiting with Seven and Axum for a few hours. I had a lot of questions for him. A lot of his answers were very sad, but he told me what he knew._

 _I wondered how the alliance between the Borg Resistance and the Fluidians came to be. Axum went to them for help. He was on a sphere patrolling an area of space in the Beta quadrant where the Fluidians had formed a rift like this one at our current location. When the Unimatrix Zero action took place, he disabled the Viniculum on his sphere, which broke the link of the Queen with the drones on his vessel. They were all very confused at first, but since Axum understood what was happening, he was able to calm most of them down before they terminated themselves. A few of the drones who had been part of the Collective for decades actually did perish. They couldn't adapt. Axum was able to provide the strong leadership the majority needed. Thanks to his help, they've adapted to individuality. Once Axum's sphere began to meet other Borg Resistance ships, he discovered that disconnecting the Viniculi before the Queen could destroy their vessels was the way most of the Borg Resistance drones were able to take over their spheres and scout ships._

 _"Why aren't there any large cubes left?" I asked him._

 _He said it's likely the Queen concentrated on the vessels with the largest crews when she was identifying the drones she could no longer "hear." That's why debris fields dating from the Unimatrix Zero action have almost all been the remains of the largest cubes. He also thinks that although there may have been more than one Unimatrix Zero drone on a larger cube, it was harder for them to get to the Viniculum and disengage the link before the cubes were destroyed._

 _I asked him how many Borg Resistance drones survive. So far they've rescued about a hundred thousand, but they're hopeful they'll still find more. They've begun finding small groups that have landed on uninhabited planets in an attempt to escape detection by the Queen. While these drones manage to eke out a living, when the Resistance contacts them, almost all have asked to travel with other Borg vessels. They believe multiple ships traveling together provide more tactical options for the Borg Resistance. If their vessels were too damaged to operate safely, the drones themselves have moved onto other Resistance ships._

 _General Korok had organized some into a fleet to search for more survivors. Most of those ships were ones which were reported in the sectors near Wysanti and Talax II. After Axum contacted the Fluidians, they discovered Korok's group and told him about the alliance Axum was promoting. He was pleased to hear Axum had survived. By this time, the Fluidians already felt they had enough information to agree to Axum's proposal. After forming their alliance, they decided the next step was to seek a treaty with the Federation and any "Dry Space" species which would respect Fluidic Space. They spent the past several months traveling here._

 _The physical properties of Fluidic Space, Axum explained, are very different from ours. You can travel much faster through their realm using the bioship's equivalent of warp drive, but not as rapidly as the Borg Trans-Warp conduits had permitted. It's a good thing Captain Janeway didn't learn about that when Voyager entered Fluidic Space. She might have found a shortcut home to the Alpha Quadrant - if she'd been able to negotiate with the Fluidians - but that would have meant they couldn't have rescued me!_

 _Korok isn't around all the time like Axum is, but he occasionally uses one of Borg Central's regeneration alcoves. Klingons like drinking contests, and when he's taken part in a competition on Voyager, he generally regenerates here. There was one contest last night, as a matter of fact. The winner: Archer. When Korok expressed amazement that a Fluidian could beat a Klingon in a drinking contest, she asked him what else did he expect? "What's a little alcohol dissolved inside a beaker for a Fluidian? I live in fluid. I BREATHE fluid!" He finally admitted she was the winner, but he claimed it was because of her "unjust advantage." Archer fired back that if he felt that way, he'd better not challenge her again._

 _I heard they're having another contest tonight._

 _I spend most of my off duty time in the Mess Hall, socializing with Verit, the other cadets, or my former shipmates. I sleep in the quarters I share with Ensign Bristow. Since he resigned before he was granted a promotion, he's still technically an ensign, although I understand Captain Janeway has recommended he receive the rank of lieutenant j.g. because of his current service. Like Marla and Noah, Freddie was considered a reservist after he resigned. He admits he didn't read that part of his separation papers very well, so when he was called up because of the Rift crisis, he was in shock for days, even after he arrived on Voyager. He had a decent job on Earth, but now that he's back on the ship and has had a year to recover from our Delta Quadrant "ordeal," he's thinking of requesting reinstatement. While he may not have studied his separation papers as closely as he should have, in many ways he's matured a lot since I saw him last. I think he'll do much better in a Starfleet career now than he would have if he hadn't taken a break from the service. Whatever he chooses to do, I'll support him. He's become a true friend._

 _Anyway, the next time I need to regenerate for a couple of hours, I'll use my portable unit. I hardly need it anymore. The Doctor has suggested I try going without for three or four weeks to see if I need to do it at all. I'm not sure I'll try that. My cortical array probably still needs some "juice" from time to time, as Tom put it when I discussed the Doctor's idea with B'Elanna and him. It's not really that much of a problem, since I know I can go a long time without needing it._

 _The main reason I sleep in the quarters I share with Freddie, besides the fact that I prefer to sleep in a bed now, is that I like to give Seven and Axum their privacy. It's pretty clear to me, not to mention just about everyone in the convoy, that they're lovers. I'm not sure what sort of sexual activity they might have shared while in Unimatrix Zero, but it was strictly mental, no matter how real it seemed to them. While I'm sure their love has a mental aspect, their physical connection is pretty obvious. It's hard to miss their affection for each other whenever they're together. It's a good thing Seven had that emotional inhibitor removed from her cortical node. Axum had his removed by our EMH shortly after the first meeting in our conference room. He got "all fluttery," he said, when Seven fixed his malfunctioning vocal processor in Borg Central. The Doctor knew exactly what his problem was when Axum reported to our Sickbay, and the Doctor removed his inhibitor, too. I understand he's been doing a lot of operations of that nature lately, along with surgical procedures to deal with implants that aren't functioning as they should, and plastic surgery to reduce scarring from previous removals that were poorly done._

 _Earlier today, I asked Seven about her relationship with Axum. I was nervous, since I wasn't sure how she'd take my curiosity, but I really wanted to know. I asked her how her feelings for Axum compare with the ones she'd experienced when she was with Chakotay. She didn't get mad. Her face just glowed with happiness and she told me, "There is NO comparison. What Commander Paris told you when you asked him about love was absolutely correct. When you're truly in love, everything you do together is so much better. You_ _ **can**_ _tell the difference. Axum was my First Love, although we were never physically together. Because of my time with Chakotay, I know that what I feel for Axum is Real Love. I hope you find it with someone someday, Icheb. It's truly wonderful."_

 _I hope I do, too. In the meantime, I'm very happy that Axum and my mother were able to find it and be together in actual reality. There's nothing "virtual" about their love this time._

=/\=


	76. Successful Endeavors

=/\=

The first time Tuvok came into the Mess Hall and challenged him to a Kal-toh match, Icheb was relieved. He must truly be feeling better. While everyone knew the prescribed course of treatment for _fal-tor-voh_ had been successfully completed - although no one ever mentioned it publicly - Tuvok still received benefits from another, very welcome, source. T'Pel had come to stay with her husband on _Voyager_.

Although Starfleet had not yet been released information to the general public about the Rift and the negotiations with the Fluidians and the Borg Resistance group, those connected with Headquarters were well aware. Once the talks reached the point where the major issues had been dealt with successfully, and only minor points were still under review, Captain Janeway requested permission from Admiral Paris to invite T'Pel to join her husband. Since the Rift was not far from Vulcan, the admiral sent Tom and Harry in the new Delta Flyer class prototype as a "test flight." They "just happened" to pick up a certain passenger for the return trip.

When they began their first match, or their "rematch," as Icheb put it, he said to Tuvok, "This time it's for real," adding that his victory in their first match was tainted by reasons "unknown to me at the time." The effect those unknown reasons had on that game was quickly made clear to Icheb. He lost that game in less than ten minutes. The next three games lasted longer, but each outcome was the same. However, Icheb was delighted when he won the fifth match.

When the shimmering ball appeared, Icheb called out to his _Voyager_ roommate, "Freddie, your bet was the right one after all!"

"Congratulations, Cadet!" the newly-promoted lieutenant j.g. exclaimed. "Nicoletti and Vorik both threatened to make me pay them back for the first bet. I don't have to worry about that now!

"Betting on a Kal-toh match, Cadet?"

Icheb wished he'd waited to say anything to Freddie, since the tone of Tuvok's voice had been disapproving, but he didn't have much choice. Icheb had to respond to Tuvok's query. "When the crew learned I would be playing against you the first time, most of the engineers were sure I'd never beat you. Freddie bet that I would be successful at least by the twentieth time we played. It was a shock to everyone when I beat you on the first try, although we both know there were . . . extenuating circumstances. I'm glad this victory means the parameters of his bet were satisfied."

After a deep sigh, Commander Tuvok said something in Vulcan which was not rendered into Federation Standard by the Universal Translator. Icheb couldn't understand the exact comment, of course, but he had little doubt that Tuvok was making another negative statement about Tom Paris's encouraging the crew to bet on anything and everything, as it seemed, during _Voyager's_ journey to the Alpha Quadrant. This impression was confirmed a moment later by T'Pel's gentle admonishment to her spouse.

"Husband, didn't you tell me that the betting pools were an integral part of the social life of _Voyager?_ You told me they were instrumental in maintaining the crew's morale while the ship was traveling through the Delta Quadrant, all alone, and in virtually constant danger."

From the expression on the commander's face, Icheb half-expected him to refuse to acknowledge his wife's comment. His lips tightened the way they did whenever Neelix became overly enthusiastic about something at "Mr. Vulcan's" expense. However, he graciously conceded, "I did say that at one point during my recent leave. I do not believe I was thinking completely logically at the time. There may, however, be a very slight amount of merit in that view."

Turning back to Icheb, Tuvok said, "Cadet, I am pleased to see how well you now play. You must be practicing diligently. Have you had much opportunity to play with Mr. Kim?"

"Occasionally. I've played Cadet Verit on a regular basis, however." Icheb nodded to where his suitemate was sitting, silently observing their verbal exchange, just as she had their game.

Tuvok turned to her. "From the improvement in Cadet Icheb's play, I suspect you have attained a degree of mastery in Kal-toh as well, Cadet Verit."

"Thank you, Commander. My father taught me. He believes Kal-toh is not just a game. He says it exercises the mind in many concepts, such as the recognition of spatial relationships and the desirability of anticipating multiple outcomes of any single action, which lead to success in many fields. I was pleased to learn Icheb was familiar with the game when he moved into our suite. Up until then, I was forced to play the game in its Solitaire form. I was unable to discover any quality opponents until he arrived at the Academy."

"Indeed, Cadet Icheb's diligence in practicing and perfecting the subjects which he studies is well known to me," Tuvok agreed. "I now offer a challenge to you, Cadet Verit."

"I am honored, Commander," Verit replied, visibly pleased by the compliment.

Icheb surrendered his chair to Verit, and Tuvok offered her the first move.

This game took quite a while, but eventually, the commander was victorious again.

"You play well, Cadet Verit. Both of you do. It is what I would expect of cadets rated as highly as both of you are. I'm pleased to see your progress, Cadet Icheb, even though I'm no longer responsible for overseeing your education."

"Your tutoring continues to influence me, Commander. Without your lessons and guidance during the time I thought attending the Academy on Earth was an impossible dream, I would not be doing nearly as well," Icheb replied.

"I believe you would, but it is gratifying to hear you take that position," Tuvok stated, with the rare lightening of facial expression which conveyed how pleased he really was. He promptly challenged Icheb to another match, "before Mr. Kim insists upon challenging me again. You are clearly the more capable opponent."

Icheb accepted, relieved that Harry was not in the Mess Hall at the time to hear Tuvok's dim opinion of his skills. Icheb couldn't suppress a little bit of pride knowing that, however it had happened, he'd succeeded in besting Tuvok twice in six tries, while Harry had yet to beat the Vulcan commander even once.

They were still in the preliminary stages of their game when Captain Janeway, Chakotay, Admiral Paris, and the Fluidians Boothby and Archer swept into the Mess Hall. Admiral Paris was the one to make the longed-for announcement. "Attention, everyone! I have some very good news. The treaty talks are finished! We've come to an accord, which will be ratified the day after tomorrow."

Admiral Paris had to stop then as everyone in the Mess Hall began to clap and cheer. Icheb couldn't wipe the grin off of his own face. He noticed Verit's eyes were sparkling, although her mouth was twisted tightly closed to contain her emotions. She clearly didn't wish to express her happiness too broadly in front of Commander Tuvok and his spouse. When Icheb looked over at them, however, he saw T'Pel clasping hands with her husband. They may not have been cheering or smiling, but it was clear they were savoring a precious moment they would cherish throughout their years together. It truly was a momentous day in the history of the Federation, and Icheb knew what a privilege it was for him to be a part of it.

Icheb realized Axum hadn't come in with the rest of the group. Had he gone to Seven, in Astrometrics, to share the good news with her? If not, Icheb wanted to be the one to let her know of the culmination of their hopes. Turning to Tuvok, he asked, "Commander, will you allow us to suspend our match for the evening? I wish to speak to Seven." Permission was readily granted. Icheb was certain the commander would also have trouble concentrating upon a game, even one which he was as fond of as Kal-toh, when this news was flashing throughout all the fleets.

=/\=

The doors to the Astrometrics lab swished open, but the pair inside made no sign they noticed. Icheb stopped his forward momentum abruptly. He was certain Seven was very aware of the accord, since she and Axum were hugging each other in a close embrace. While Icheb stood there watching, Axum pulled back just enough to take Seven's left arm from around his shoulders and plant a tender kiss on the palm of her hand. The movement was so intimate, Icheb took a step back.

Before the door could close again, however, the pair turned to the doorway and saw him standing there. "Come in, Icheb," Seven said.

"Have you heard the news?" Axum asked.

"Admiral Paris just announced it to everyone in the Mess Hall," Icheb confirmed, as he stepped near the pair.

"Good. I believe all those at this last meeting are letting the people on their own ships know. The official announcement will be made as soon as the leaders of all the parties know our task has been accomplished."

"Is that why it's going to be ratified the day after tomorrow?" Icheb asked Axum.

"Yes, the Fluidian's leader will arrive then to sign our preliminary agreement. We'll all travel back to Earth with you for the formal treaty signing with the Federation Council." Turning back to Seven, he added, "I'm happy to say Boothby and I will both be staying on Earth for some time, as representatives to the Federation council."

"But Seven, won't you be moving to Utopia Planitia when we get back to Earth?"

Seven's smile was dazzling. "The distance between Earth and Mars is negligible, compared to separation on opposite ends of the galaxy, Icheb. You won't mind if he stays in our house in San Francisco, do you?"

Icheb felt breathless for a second before he managed to say, "Of course not. Welcome, Axum!"

Axum's smile was almost as broad as Seven's as he said, "Thank you, Icheb. Oh, and by the way, I don't know if Academy cadets have a different uniform for formal occasions, but you are expected to be one of the observers on _Enterprise_ when the initial treaty is signed." Axum looked at Seven. "The presence of both of you is required. No one believes this day would have come about if not for actions both of you undertook during the past several years."

"Including my lying to Captain Janeway about the true facts about the invasion of Fluidic Space by the Borg?" Seven asked him sardonically.

"As it happens, yes. If the Queen had sent someone else to _Voyager_ that time, perhaps events would have turned out differently. You would not have been freed from the Collective after so many years as a drone, proving it was possible for others to be as well. You would not have been on board to rescue Icheb and the other children from their cube. I could not have contacted you when we needed your assistance protecting the drones of Unimatrix Zero from the Queen."

He turned his attention back to the cadet. "And you were the key to freeing the galaxy of that Queen, Icheb. You did so even though you knew it might cost you your life as an independent being. You see, even events which seemed to be disasters when they occurred now seem to have been necessary, preliminary steps, which have led to an agreement which we hope will stabilize the entire galaxy. Even Bulloch has decided you're not evil personified, Annika."

"That is . . . good to know," she responded, with a huskiness in her voice that told Icheb, more than words could have done, how grateful she was to be here this time - with Axum.

=/\=


	77. Momentous Events

(I know it's been a while since I updated. Sorry! It's been busy around here lately! ;-)

=/\=

Axum was standing in the _Enterprise's_ transporter room when the group from _Voyager_ arrived. He nodded briefly to Admiral Paris, Tom Paris, Captains Janeway and Chakotay, and Icheb, but once he held out his arm to Seven, his gaze never wavered from her face. The group walked towards the _Enterprise's_ Holodeck One, which had been set up to serve as the location for the signing of the treaty between the Federation, the people of Fluidic Space, and the Borg Resistance Group. Even the conference room on _Enterprise_ was deemed too small to accommodate everyone invited to attend the event.

The Romulans' status was still only "observers," since they had yet to learn if their leadership would agree to all of the treaty's terms. As Tom explained to Icheb, as they followed the rest of their contingent to the _Enterprise_ holodeck, "The Romulans don't dare sign anything until their Praetor and Senate have had a chance to pick it over with their Tal Shiar spy network, but they'll sign. They know as well as we do that snubbing the Fluidians is suicidal. Even the Borg at their greatest strength failed to beat them. If they came after us once we encountered them again at their station in the Delta Quadrant, they could have overcome _Voyager_ , too. We're lucky they didn't want to, because by then, they knew how to defend themselves from the nanoprobe weapons we'd used against them before. Hey, if the Cardassians are signing this treaty, you _know_ the Romulans will go along, if only to keep an eye on whatever everyone else is doing!"

When they entered the holodeck, Icheb asked Tom, "Did you help them create this setting? The room's decor looks an awful lot like your Palace Theater program."

"Reg Barclay did the actual work, although I gave him a few suggestions," Tom admitted, with a grin. The walls and ceiling were very reminiscent of Tom's movie palace. It wasn't an exact copy. There was a line of simulated windows along one side of the room, which displayed the same view of the Rift that appeared on the Federation fleet's viewscreens; and the floor was flat, since there wasn't any cinema screen.

While the room was still fairly empty when the group from _Voyager_ arrived, it filled up rapidly as representatives of the Dry Space worlds began to arrive. Since Seven, Icheb and Tom weren't signatories of the new pact, they stepped behind Captain Janeway and Admiral Paris and positioned themselves along the wall of the room. Those who were recording their names on the document for posterity milled around in the center area. The buzz of anticipation from the Starfleet representatives began to increase in volume as the stragglers entered the holodeck.

Captain Picard came up to Icheb and said, in his beautifully modulated voice, "I hope you appreciate the honour that has been bestowed upon you, Cadet Icheb. When Captain Janeway suggested we invite you to this event, in view of your role in our coming to this day, I immediately seconded the motion. You should know the vote was unanimous in favour, as well. Your place in history is assured."

"I'm very grateful. I hope I will be of service to the Federation in the future as well. I'm thankful I've been welcomed to this quadrant as I have been," Icheb replied.

He noticed Captain Janeway turn towards them and smile. She must have overheard Picard's comment. She opened her mouth as if she was about to add something to what the captain of Enterprise had said; but a quick flash of light, to Icheb's right, drew her attention to that side of the room. Instead, she gasped, used a profane word that Icheb had never heard her use before, and said, "Today! Today, of all days!"

Two figures in admiral's uniforms approached. Icheb heard Tom groan, as if in pain. Seven growled, in a very creditable imitation of B'Elanna at her most exasperated. Axum shook his head in puzzlement.

Icheb knew the shorter of the two beings immediately. The taller one's identity seemed likely when Captain Picard uttered a _sotto voce_ curse in French. Icheb was aware the being had been an unwelcome guest on the _Enterprise_ on multiple occasions, just as he had on _Voyager_. When the tall one said, "Fancy meeting you here, Kathryn," Icheb recognized his voice. The other time he'd heard it, he'd been lying flat on his back in Sickbay - when the being in question spoke openly about his willingness for Icheb to die to teach his own son a lesson.

"Q! _What_ are _you_ doing here?" Picard said emphatically, confirming Icheb's conclusion that he was finally seeing Quinton's father in the flesh - or whatever the Continuum's equivalent of "in the flesh" might be.

"Why, I'm here to observe history in the making. Peace in our time! For a while, anyway, humanoid natures being what they are. This trans-dimensional accord is an impressive achievement, however. I wouldn't miss it for the world! Or worlds . . . whatever. I _had_ to be here. I was, after all, instrumental in making it come about."

"You were what?" Captain Janeway almost spit out the sentence.

"I helped in many ways! I introduced you to the Borg much earlier than you would have otherwise encountered them, didn't I, Picard?"

"The assimilation of my parents and me on _The Raven_ introduced the Borg to humanity," Seven sneered, holding on so tightly to Axum's arm that Icheb was certain he'd have bruises the shape of her fingers on his biceps.

"Irrelevant, to use a word you're so fond of, Annika 'Seven-of-Nine' Hansen. Starfleet had to know about them, since your father never bothered to relay any of his observations back to the Alpha Quadrant. The Federation needed to know about the Borg before the Collective invaded the Alpha Quadrant." Icheb could see Axum trying to calm his mother down; but Icheb had to admit that from what he'd learned, Q's statement was accurate. Mr. Hansen never had sent any of the data he'd collected on the Borg back to the Federation, even though Seven's mother had begged him to end his studies before the family was discovered.

Turning back to Captain Janeway, Q continued, "Now, as I was about to say before being so rudely interrupted, Kathryn, I pushed your little ship out of trouble a couple of times . . . "

"After getting us into trouble in the first place."

". . . and I gave you that homework to thank you for tutoring Junior here. Remember? You were on just the right course to encounter that amazing Borg construct that finally allowed you to get home, years before you would have gotten there. Which you didn't bother to use that other time when . . . oops! Pardon me. You don't like talking about that other Kathryn, do you? Well, anyway, you should be thanking me for all I did for you. Instead of staring at me like that."

From the way his captain was glaring at Q, Icheb didn't believe she was particularly impressed by his self-congratulatory statements. Quinton looked acutely embarrassed. "Um, Q, perhaps this isn't the best time to bring all that up."

"I'm just pointing out that my presence here is perfectly justified. Yours, however - well, we do everything together now, don't we? We're 'joined at the hip,' so to speak." Q grimaced, and Icheb ached to tell him the real reason they "do everything together now."

When that thought occurred to Icheb, he wondered if any other being from the Continuum might be in attendance. He quickly scanned the room, but he didn't immediately notice the person he was looking for. Admittedly, his view was obscured in many directions, now that the room was almost completely filled with Starfleet officers. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying any attention to the little drama occurring in this area of the chamber. Icheb had a hunch that Q had done something to hide them from the rest of those in attendance.

Quinton glanced over his shoulder. Icheb followed his gaze, and that's when he caught sight of the tall, dark haired woman in a captain's uniform, with a sardonic smile on her face, standing at the far end of the holodeck.

Grabbing hold of Quinton's arm, Icheb asked to be excused. Although Axum appeared to be having trouble following the ins and outs of the discussion, he nodded his head to acknowledge Icheb's request as the two young people walked away. Once they were three steps away, the group with Q became invisible and silent, confirming Icheb's supposition about why no one else in the room seemed to be aware of what was going on.

"Still interested in developing your diplomatic skills, I see," Icheb remarked, unable to keep from smiling at his companion.

"Despite the divine Cadet Verit's skepticism, I am. I'm developing an aptitude for it even more as time goes by. Needless to say, I get lots of practice, courtesy of Q, smoothing over the offended when the Old Man gets out of hand. Verit is here, isn't she? I made a quick visit to the Academy. Farys and Austin said you were both away on a training mission. I assume they didn't know where you two went."

"Yes, Verit is on _Voyager_. And by the way, she's married now."

"Ah, well, I know I never really had any chance at all with her. It just wasn't meant to be." By this time, the two had managed to dodge their way past the varied representatives and reached the figure at the far end of the room. "Hi, Mom," Quinton said, when they met up with her.

"Hello, dear. Still keeping an eye on the Wild One, I'm happy to see. I'll help you out today. We don't want him to embarrass you any more than he has already. It looks like Janeway would like to slug him in the mouth. He's riled up Picard, too. Once the rest of the Borg and the Fluidians arrive, though, he should finally settle down. I know he really does want to be part of this, even if he is woefully overstating his role." She smiled at Icheb and clapped him on the shoulder. "You didn't use the delivery method I anticipated, but you did well. Just as I knew you would."

They didn't get a chance to speak much more, for promptly at 1400 hours, General Korok led the rest of the Borg Resistance leaders into the holodeck, followed closely by Boothby and the other Fluidians. The last to enter was a tall, dark-skinned man in a uniform very reminiscent of a Starfleet officer's. Elim Garak, the primary Cardassian representative, gasped audibly. His smile of welcome was not shared by the other two Cardassian officials in attendance.

The leader of the Fluidians had taken on the appearance of the Bajoran's Emissary, once Captain Benjamin Sisko, the son of a human and a female Wormhole alien, who now lived in the Celestial Temple with her. All around them, Icheb heard people asking, "Is it really him? Are the Fluidians and the Wormhole aliens the same species?"

Boothby spoke first. "I know many of you must be curious about how we choose our Dry Space forms. We've been observing your peoples for quite a while now, long enough to figure out who would be appropriate for our own personalities. Our Prime Leader has taken a form that is familiar to many of you. I assure you, he chose this persona because the original was not going to be present at this meeting to confuse you about which one of them was which. Our dueling Admiral Bullochs taught us a thing or two about the advisability of trying _that_ again!"

A wave of amused laughter circulated through the group. The two Bullochs looked sternly at each other, perfectly illustrating Boothby's point, before he continued, "I'd like to introduce you to our Prime Leader. You may address him simply as Sisko. It will save time. Prime Leader, the floor is yours."

The Sisko double thanked Boothby for the introduction. "I hope those who knew Benjamin Sisko are not disturbed by my assuming this form. I learned the original had a gravitas that was quite noteworthy for a Dry Space native. And by the way, _we_ don't know what sort of being the Wormhole aliens are, either. But they are interesting, aren't they?" He smiled, and the atmosphere in the room, which had become a little intense, relaxed somewhat. The rest of the Fluidians and the Borg Resistance leaders were identified by name, as were all of the Starfleet representatives who were to sign the agreement.

The accord was read aloud so that all in attendance would know exactly what they were signing. Even though the document was considered to be a preliminary agreement, and its wording would undoubtedly be modified in places when it was presented to the Federation Council and all of its allies, everyone was certain that the main points would survive. The Fluidians and the former Borg wished to ally themselves with the Federation. Open lines of communication between all parties were to be maintained to avoid any "unfortunate misunderstandings," as had occurred when the Borg Queen had misrepresented the Fluidians' intentions towards those who dwell in Dry Space. Tactical information would continue to be exchanged among all signatory parties, as had already been shared during the treaty negotiations. (This proviso alone, Icheb knew, had been instrumental in convincing the Cardassians they should sign the agreement.) The initial representatives/liaisons to the Federation were named: Boothby for the Fluidians, and Axum for the former Borg. The Federation and its allies agreed to assist in the search for a planet where the Borg survivors could settle together, since many came from worlds which had been utterly decimated by the Collective. Many were apparently the last of their species and had no homes to which they could return. Others who might be able to return to their home planets would prefer to live with those who had lived as drones, since many were still recovering from their forced assimilations. General Korok had accepted the task of searching for more Borg survivors and would assist in the repatriation of all former Borg, until everyone was satisfied there was little likelihood of finding any other survivors.

The document was passed around and signed by those designated for the task. As he watched, Icheb could see why Quinton had been so fascinated by the process. It was certainly different from the way the Continuum operated - or the Collective, either. Since he was just an observer, Icheb decided that standing here, with Quinton and his mother, was as appropriate as standing with Seven would have been. Icheb had to admit there was some truth in Q's insistence that he'd contributed to the events of this day. _Voyager's_ journey through the Delta Quadrant, which had, in fact, been the catalyst for this agreement, had required some very precise timing for everything to occur when and how it needed to, in order for all this to come about. Q did play a _small_ part in it all, as did Quinton's mother, for suggesting that Icheb might be successful if he continued to work on a weapon to thwart assimilation. Perhaps having Quinton's very unique family present at the event wasn't the intrusion it initially appeared to be.

Afterwards, Quinton's mom asked, "I'll keep an eye on your father while you visit your friends on _Voyager_. But did you appreciate this view of the bipedal humanoid diplomatic process?"

"I did. It's a big moment in the history of this galaxy. I didn't want to miss it!"

"Q would have dragged you along with him, whether you wanted to come or not," She replied acidly. "Miss a chance to annoy Picard and Janeway? And both at the same time? Not a chance!"

=/\=

"Academy life a little dull after all the fireworks lighting the skies?" Professor Reagan asked as he encountered Icheb and Verit walking down the hallway of the main Sciences building.

Icheb chuckled, while Verit looked down at the ground to control her features to assume a suitably sober Vulcan mien. Sheepishly, Icheb admitted, "It _is_ a lot quieter around here than I remembered, but that's okay. It was almost too exciting for a while."

The trip back to Earth had been anticlimactic until they entered the Sol System. The fireworks displays had been quite beautiful in their way. Icheb was able to appreciate them more this time than he had when _Voyager_ had returned from the Delta Quadrant. Then, Icheb had been unnerved by the incipient changes in his life which he knew would occur upon his arrival in the Alpha Quadrant. The status of all the non-Starfleet regular crew was so precarious then. What would happen to the Maquis and the _Equinox_ Five? Captain Janeway faced an inquisition about all the decisions she made in the Delta Quadrant, starting with the first one, which was to integrate the Maquis with her own crew and choosing to protect the Ocampa from the Kazon rather than return immediately to the Alpha Quadrant through the Caretaker Array with the _Val Jean's_ crew as her prisoners. Seven and Icheb didn't know if they would be welcomed as individuals rescued from the Borg or as pariahs who could be punished as members of the Collective, however unwilling they might have been to act as they did.

Now, it was all so different. The Maquis had been welcomed home and honored for their role members of the crew of _Voyager_. While the _Equinox_ Five hadn't fared quite as well, they were getting on with their lives. Marla Gilmore and Noah Lessing had even been asked to serve as "reservists" during this mission, and the tragic tale of the _Equinox_ had never been publicly revealed, to their great relief.

The unit of cadets Icheb had "commanded" during this operation had already received commendations for their participation in "The Events at The Rift," as their citations identified it, even though Icheb thought they'd performed the normal duties expected of members of a Starfleet crew. When he mentioned that they hadn't really done anything "that special" to Verit, however, she stated pointedly, "No one knew our 'training cruise' would turn out to be so routine in nature when it began. You contributed much to all that happened, Icheb, even if your contributions occurred during the end stages of _Voyager's_ journey. I am conscious of my good fortune. I was privileged to view momentous events at first hand. I will remember this for the rest of my life. And to receive a commendation when we are still cadets can only enhance our career prospects," she added, speaking practically and logically, as she always did.

When the fleet attained orbit around Earth, Starfleet Command ordered many of the admirals and captains to transport onto _Voyager_ , which was then directed to land with great ceremony on the Presidio. Axum's sphere followed, with the Fluidians and other former Borg leaders on board with him. After a short welcome to the "honored guests of the Federation," commemorating the new accord, the assorted officials and admirals walked from there to Starfleet Headquarters. As Captain Janeway followed them down the planetary exit ramp, she groaned when she saw her ship's position. "You can see Alcatraz from here," she muttered. Fortunately, everyone who was going to had disembarked by this time, and _Voyager_ was allowed to return to Earth orbit. "But it's only a matter of time before it returns for good," she moaned to Captain Chakotay. Icheb heard their exchange. While he couldn't be certain, Icheb had a hunch she was referring to something Admiral Janeway had told her once. It seemed to Icheb that the admiral's visit took place ages ago, even though less than a year and a half had passed.

Seven and Icheb were among the very few members of the gallery audience (thanks to their connection to Axum) who had been invited to view the final act of the drama, when the Federation Council ratified and signed the treaty which created the Federation-Fluidian-Borg Survivor Alliance. Two other observers, not invited, but impossible to exclude, also attended. Quinton and his father stood behind Captain Picard and Captain Janeway (much to her displeasure) during the signing.

Q offered to help find the new planet for the former Borg. "Are you certain the Federation President wouldn't want my assistance?" Q asked Picard and Janeway.

"No!" they said, in chorus.

The Borg Resistance representative to the Federation Council, as befit his new position, was more diplomatic. "We thank you for your offer, but your assistance will not be required, Q," Axum said firmly. And, to the surprise of those few who were aware of the presence of the Continuum's representatives in the audience, Q acquiesced.

=/\=


	78. Questions and Answers

=/\=

 _Stardate_ _56124.4_ _Personal Log Entry, Cadet Icheb_

 _Axum asked me to come to the house this afternoon for a chat, if I "didn't have anything better to do this Saturday." He's learned a lot about how people live their lives on Earth already. I did have a study session planned with Verit. She was willing to postpone until Sunday night, so I accepted. I looked forward to spending time with Seven, too, since she's always so busy and we can't always schedule a long visit. Now that she's stationed on Utopia Planitia, we have to plan our visits more carefully. Because of this, I was a little disappointed to arrive and discover Seven wouldn't arrive for the weekend until later in the evening. Axum assured me the invitation was for the entire weekend, so I sat down with him for lunch and conversation._

 _I'd spent quite a lot of time with him on Voyager, when we were returning from the peace conference, but this was the first time I'd spent several hours with him without Seven there, too. We discussed many subjects. All of the worlds which signed the peace agreement are looking for a planet to serve as the former Borg's homeworld. He told me they've identified three so far that they want to investigate more closely. All would need to be terraformed, so that would delay any settlement on the chosen planet until it was habitable._

 _He asked about my studies. He offered to provide Verit and me with information about Beta Quadrant worlds that he knew about from his Borg days, which the Federation and its long-time allies have yet to visit. I was intrigued and thanked him for the offer, which I accepted. I knew Verit would be delighted. He smiled and told me that Ambassador Boothby (as I call him now, to differentiate him from our Academy gardener, now that I can encounter either) had asked him about Cadet Verit. She'd quizzed him several times about Fluidic Space and its inhabitants during our time at the Rift and during the trip home. "He asked me if all Xenobiology majors at the Academy were like her, and I had to tell him I didn't know. I asked Commander Tuvok, however. He told me, 'From my experience, the good ones are.'" I agreed that Cadet Verit is definitely a very "good one."_

 _Axum told me Ambassador Boothby had read my essay about being Borg. He was very impressed. "He told me, 'Now that I've met a fair number of former Borg who don't have that Queen pushing them around like Kal-toh pieces, I'm sorry we couldn't save more of them.'" He said he'd heard from General Korok, and he's found a couple more spheres wandering around in the Beta Quadrant. "We hope more will turn up, but when I think of how many died, and how many planets and races may have been completely destroyed, it saddens me." We both fell silent for a few minutes after that. It's so hard to contemplate how much evil the Borg Queen and the Collective as a whole did to so many._

 _Our conversation then turned to our own heritages. Seven told him about what my parents had done to me, which shocked him, as it does most people. He explained that his people, the Ioroni, had revered their families. The parents of a person of marriageable age were always consulted to give their blessing to any planned marriage. Any child in the extended family "of the age of knowledge" would be consulted as well. This extended to after the marriage had taken place. The children of a couple had the right to express their opinions about whether the family was going to move to a new location, for example. It didn't mean the children had final say, but families took such actions by consensus, whenever possible._

 _When a man or woman wished to join lives with another who has children "of the age of knowledge" from a previous union, they asked them if they would accept him or her as a co-parent. I was surprised to hear that if the children did not wish it, this choice would be respected, and the marriage would not take place. He admitted that this didn't mean it would never happen. The rejected co-parent would often "woo" the child or children to try to win them over. He said more often than not, this would work._

 _Sadly, this culture is no more. As far as Axum knows, he's the last of the Ioroni. His people had just attained the ability to travel to the planets and moons in their system when the Borg came. Since all of them still lived on their planet of origin, be believes everyone was assimilated. He's yet to meet another Ioroni who is part of the Borg Resistance movement. He hopes a few will finally show up when their new planet is ready for settlement. After he'd finished his description of his culture, he asked me my opinion of it._

 _I told him I enjoyed hearing about it, but I did wonder why he'd gone into detail about how the children "of the age of knowledge" had such a say in a marriage - and then it hit me. "Axum, are you asking me if I would accept you as my parent? Like you would if we were all Ioroni?"_

 _He nodded eagerly. "Yes! I'm glad you understand." Then he stopped and looked perplexed. "Would you accept me into your family?"_

 _"Of course I would. I'd be delighted!" I told him. "You didn't really have to ask me, though. It's Seven who must agree to marry."_

 _"We've discussed marriage, but before I made a formal proposal, I wanted to make sure you agreed. You see, the customs of the Federation are so varied, I was very confused about how to proceed. I went to your Aunt Irene and asked her how things are done here. She said what you did, about asking Annika herself, but she also mentioned that in Earth's past, a man would ask the permission of the intended's father before asking her for her hand in marriage. I thought it was similar to the way my people did it. Used to do it."_

 _I could tell it made him sad about the loss of his entire culture, so I clasped his hands in mine and said, "I do approve, so ask Seven tonight, if you want. I think your culture handled things a lot better than most do. I would imagine families might be happier if they always worked together to make such important decisions."_

 _Maybe a shadow crossed my face at that moment, also, since I couldn't help thinking about my own parents' actions. They certainly didn't bother to account for my attaining the "age of knowledge" by asking me if I would volunteer to save the Brunali. Axum must have thought I was thinking of something else, however. He said, "If you still had your cortical node, we wouldn't have needed to use speech for me to ask this of you. You would've known from my thoughts what I was trying to say."_

 _"If I still had my cortical node, Seven - Annika - would not be here for you to propose to. It's all right. I've grown accustomed to living in my own head, without another's thoughts coming into it. I think it's helped me develop my individuality, especially since I've lived at the Academy. Cadets who are telepathic must live there alongside those of us who aren't. I've spoken with Commander Troi about it. She's of a telepathic race. Betazoids have to be trained extensively from childhood to block out unwanted thoughts projected by others. Sometimes I'm sad I can't communicate subvocally anymore, but I've adapted. It's just the way things had to be."_

 _"Thank you for saving Annika's life. I'll always be grateful you did."_

 _We spoke a while after that of other things. He turned the conversation towards how I felt about Mezoti living so far away from me. I admitted that losing her was much harder than losing the ability to communicate through a cortical node. "She was my sister. If she'd stayed with us, we would have made up our own little Collective within the greater one of Voyager. I still miss her very much." I told him how we stay in touch through Project Watson. "We send datastream messages instead of actually talking 'live,' the way we can with Neelix and his family on Talax II. I wish we could speak with one another like we're doing here, but it doesn't look like it's going to be possible with this technology. I should be grateful we can communicate at all."_

 _He told me he understood. I'm sure he does, because his own family and entire race have been erased from the universe. He must get lonely sometimes, thinking he's the only one left. We spoke about the adoption process Seven had to complete to make me her son. While he will petition the court to become my father, the way things are done here, Axum explained his people never developed such a cumbersome system. "When Annika and I married, you would be my son. It would be just the same as if I had been the one to quicken you into life and Annika had carried you within her body to give birth to you. I look forward to having a family again."_

 _I told him about Neelix, and how I was sad and glad when he found Dexa and Brax, and that they all have their little girl Alixia to love now._

 _From the moment I met Axum, I knew he was the right one for Seven. I'd had reservations about Chakotay from the first, and I'd been right to have them. They weren't really suited to each other. I didn't say anything about that to Axum, but I did tell him how Seven mourned when she thought she would never meet him in real life, since he was living so far away. "Marrying you will be the very best outcome for Seven."_

 _Axum answered, "For me, too."_

 _When Seven arrived at hour 1709, she was very pleased to see me. I told her I had some studying to do and would be in my room for a while - but they could call me if they needed me for anything. An hour later, they did call me. Seven showed me a ruby ring. "I'll have to wear it on my right hand. It won't fit over the Borg circuitry on my left," she explained._

 _"It doesn't matter which hand it's on. I'm happy for both of you. Should I call you Annika now, too? Or Mother?"_

 _"Icheb, you can still call me any name you like. I'll know what it means. Axum will, too."_

 _When I get home tomorrow, I'll have to think of an engagement present for them. I'm not sure what to get. Now that they have each other, I think they already have the most important things: love and family. I'll check with Naomi, though. She always has good suggestions for that sort of thing. I'd like them to have something to remind them of the time our new family was formed._

 _I can't help wishing Mezoti was here. I'll just have to accept that our family tree will always have that "other branch" far away, on Wysanti._

=/\=


	79. Engagement Party

=/\=

[If you don't understand the interchange between Boothby the gardener and Boothby the ambassador in this chapter, may I direct you to my stories, "Wisdom of the Ages" and "Words of Wisdom." And Six of Twelve, here's your Boothby conversation I didn't think I'd get into this story. I found a place for it after all. ;-) ]

=/\=

"Some must search from one end of their homeworld to the other to find the love of their life. Some of us have to be thrown into the other side of the galaxy to find theirs." Tom paused at this point and smiled at his B'Elanna, who smiled sweetly in return as laughter rippled through the assembled engagement party guests. "But I can't imagine literally traveling from one end of the galaxy to the other to find your soul mate. But the guests of honor at tonight's little fete had to do just that to fulfill their destinies as partners for life. Annika - Axum - we all wish you more joy than the collective number of kilometers you had to travel to finally be with each other in the flesh, rather than in a virtual love affair of the mind. Annika, A.K.A. Seven of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct of Unimatrix 01, and Axum, A.K.A. Five of Twelve, Secondary Adjunct of Trimatrix 942, we wish you long lives, filled with love, health, and happiness. To the happy couple!"

Tom raised his glass of champagne high in the air. All the guests followed suit, repeating Tom's phrase. Icheb lifted his own glass, too, even though it was filled with sparkling grape juice rather than the traditional beverage used for toasts on Earth. Of course, the beaming couple's glasses were filled with the same liquid. Even syntheholic champagne affected both of them as much (or more) as the real stuff did. As they raised their glasses and sipped from them to acknowledge the toast from their friends, Icheb had to admit they were a lovely couple, perfectly matched.

During the past couple of months, he'd come to appreciate the Ioronian for his quiet strength, intelligence, and warm personality. He knew his adoptive mother Seven, despite having a personality that was the opposite of Axum's in many ways, recognized how well his qualities complimented hers. Their mutual respect reminded him of another couple he knew. The hosts of this party, Tom and B'Elanna, were a perfect example of the way two very disparate personalities could form a lasting, mutually beneficial relationship.

And Icheb also knew he would soon have a father who would always support him. It was a wonderful feeling.

After the toast, Tom circulated among the guests, encouraging everyone to partake of the vast array of comestibles and other forms of liquid refreshment available. His path approached the place where Icheb and his suitemates were standing. They all were sipping the same beverage as Icheb "in solidarity," even though Verit and Farys were both well over the age anyone could complain about their partaking of an alcoholic drink. "Enjoying the party?" Tom said, as he came close enough to be heard above the babbling of the excited party guests.

"Very much so. I especially liked your toast. Was the inclusion of the word 'collective' deliberate, or some sort of mental slip?" Icheb replied, with an air of exaggerated innocence.

Tom laughed. "Caught me. Resistance was futile, once I thought of it."

"Ouch," Austin said, laughing. "I didn't catch that pun until just now. Did the rest of you?" Farys and Verit both nodded their heads, and Austin shrugged ruefully. "I guess I'll have to pay more attention when you're addressing us in the future, Commander."

"This is a party, Austin! Call me Tom. I'm only Commander Paris when I'm on duty!"

"As you told me once, a long time ago," Icheb answered.

"Barely three years ago. It does seem like such a long time ago now, doesn't it? So much has happened since you came on _Voyager_. Well, kids - I hope you don't mind me calling you that, since to me, that's what you are - have a great time. Get some food. Fill your plates. That's what it's there for." As Tom shooed Austin, Farys, and Verit to the buffet table, which was laden with delicacies from many worlds, Icheb was very glad Tom and B'Elanna had thought to include them. He was getting more conscious every day that their time together at the Academy would come to an end in a little more than a year. How long would it take for him to think back fondly on these days and think of their friendship as something that began a "long time ago?"

As this thought came into his mind, his soon-to-be father waved him over to join Seven and him. They hugged Icheb when he reached them, which pleased Icheb no end. "Perhaps we should have had you stand with us when Tom made his toast," Axum mused.

"It's traditional to toast an engaged couple. I didn't mind being one of the spectators. I was the first one you told about your engagement. That's enough of an honor for me."

Just then Dr. Mark Zimmerman passed by, smiling a little too broadly as he pointed his imager at the guests clustered around the serving table. Axum called out to him, "Doctor, please point your imager here so we can greet Mezoti together."

"I'll be happy to," the EMH replied. As he moved into position in front of them and raised his imager, he added, "Now, when you see the little red light begin to shine, I'll be recording your message to our distant colleague."

"Doctor, by now we're very familiar with the process," Icheb remarked, chuckling softly. Under his breath he added, "Taking over, as always."

Axum and Seven began to chuckle with Icheb, just as the little indicator light flashed on. "Hello, Mezoti!" Icheb addressed the imager. "I hope you're enjoying this record of the engagement party. We're at Admiral and Mrs. Paris' home, but Tom and B'Elanna are actually throwing this 'shindig,' as he calls it, welcoming Axum into our _Voyager_ family!" Icheb paused as he momentarily ran out of anything to say to Mezoti. Fortunately, Seven and Axum both recorded their own messages to his little sister while Icheb brought his emotions under control.

If only she could have been here! Maybe Seven would be marrying Axum today instead of only taking part in a pre-wedding celebration.

The wedding would not take place for several months. When Icheb had asked them why they were waiting so long, Axum explained it was for "diplomatic reasons."

"The Federation Council has asked us to take part in a mission to visit several non-aligned worlds, to explain our new alliance to them. We're hoping more may join us, to further stabilize the Milky Way galaxy. Annika will be one of the representatives of the Federation, as well as a part of the former Borg contingent. The Valerie Archer from Fluidic Space is the lead representative of their species. Since one of our stops is not far from the Vorothon Gorge, which Annika and I always spoke about visiting when we met in Unimatrix Zero, we thought we would go there now, instead of waiting until after the wedding."

"Wouldn't that be a perfect spot for your honeymoon?" Icheb had asked.

"After coming back from this mission, we may not have the opportunity to go that far away for several years. Annika will return to Utopia Planitia once her vacation time and extended leave of absence is over. I must resume my duties with the council when we get back. It will take a few years to finish terraforming our new planet. Others will oversee the project while we're away, but I'm sure I'll be asked to make many decisions upon our return. So, we won't be able to visit a place so far distant for quite a while."

"I wish I could come with you. Not for the honeymoon aspect," Icheb had hastened to add. "Just to see the falls. Maybe I could have been included in the crew as part of my training cruise - if my service on _Voyager_ to the Rift hadn't been counted as that." Icheb sighed. As rewarding as his time on _Voyager_ at the Rift had been, he wouldn't have minded going on a training cruise with Austin and Farys, as well as Verit.

"We'll be home again soon enough. You'll be busy with your classes. I understand you'll be taking more during the summer. The time will fly by," Seven replied, trying to reassure him.

"Maybe. Admiral Virdian has asked Verit and me to join an exobiology seminar and share information about new species we've obtained through our contacts with the Borg survivors. It's a tempting offer, but since you're going to be away from Utopia Planitia, I was going to ask B'Elanna if I could spend some time there, working with her engineering group."

"You may have a chance to do that, too, although B'Elanna will have the assistance of Axum's engineers to assist her. They won't be traveling with us. And I doubt this would have counted as your senior training cruise anyway. We'll be traveling in a Fluidian bioship," Seven had explained. Drily, she added, "I'm sure B'Elanna will have her hands full, ordering more Borg around."

"Ever since they met General Korok, my crew have found Commander Torres to be refreshingly mild-mannered," Axum offered, smiling, and that made them all laugh.

As Icheb finished the last of his sparkling grape juice, he recalled this conversation. It was a comfort to know the mission was traveling on a bioship. Because the properties of Fluidic Space differed so much from that of Dry Space, it could travel far more rapidly than vessels using other technologies, even regular transwarp. They may not be able to move as quickly as Borg ships did through the destroyed Trans-Warp conduit system, but the trip was projected to take only a few months, rather than years.

After depositing his empty glass on a tray left for that purpose on a small table in the corner, Icheb picked up a plate and visited the buffet table himself. After choosing what must surely be an overabundance of food - although Icheb was certain he'd be able to stuff it all down - he joined his suitemates and took a seat on the couch next to Farys. After sampling most of his selections, which were just as delicious as he'd thought they would be, he asked, "Verit, did I hear you received a message just before we left for the party?"

"I did. It was from Torin."

"Excellent," Icheb responded. "Has their group had any contact with the Fluidians in the Gamma Quadrant?"

"No. My message to him about the Rift surprised him, although official word arrived just after he received my message. He said he was fascinated by my report and was pleased I had authorized him to share my experiences with his entire group."

"And how are things going for him?" Austin asked.

"The project is going very well. He may not be away as long as was originally projected."

"You miss him. And don't tell me that's a human emotion. I know you too well," Austin chuckled.

"I would prefer to state it somewhat differently: I look forward to the time when he will return to me, when we can again share our lives in a mutually beneficial relationship. Is that acceptable phrasing, Austin?"

"Acceptable Vulcan-Speak for, 'Yes, I miss him'? Yeah, I think so."

They all laughed. This may be why the EMH suddenly materialized in their corner, imager in hand. "You seem to be having a wonderful time. Do you have any greetings to send to our friend Mezoti on Wysanti?"

Everyone did, of course. Verit's salutation included a quick post-script. "I will send you a separate message, Mezoti, describing my perceptions of this ceremonial gathering in greater detail. I look forward to hearing your response to what I share with you."

Once the Doctor walked away from the group, Austin said, "I didn't know you sent messages to Mezoti, too, Verit."

"I do, from time to time. She's asked me to keep her informed of anything her brother Icheb fails to let her know, _if_ I believe it's something she _should_ be aware of." At this, she quirked up an eyebrow and glanced in said brother's direction, which prompted a grin. He knew there were some messages from Mezoti she'd failed to share with him. He'd already guessed he must have been the subject of most, if not all, of them. Verit continued, "She also keeps me informed about her studies of the insects on Wysanti. Her observation are very detailed, and her conclusions, astute. She's a remarkable child. I enjoy our correspondence."

The suitemates spent the next few minutes finishing their meals and saying nothing much of consequence. The Doctor passed by their corner several times, in search of moments to record for Mezoti. After one of these transits, Farys remarked, "Dr. Zimmerman's smile looks so big and pasted on, it borders on painful - if he were an organic, that is. Icheb, what's the story? There's got to be one. I've never seen him look that way before."

Icheb sighed. "I guess I never told you about this. The Doctor has a big crush on Seven. Actually, it's probably more like an unrequited love affair on his part. Once, when he thought his program was decompiling - which would have meant his death - he confessed to embarrassing actions he'd taken towards several of the crew of _Voyager_ which were embarrassing for him to admit. And he also confessed his love for Seven of Nine. Fortunately - or unfortunately, from the Doctor's point of view, since he'd spilled so many deep secrets - B'Elanna rescued his program. He's had to live with everyone knowing what he'd revealed ever since."

"Is that why he always seems to date women who are tall and blonde - more or less Scandinavian looking, like Annika Hansen?" Austin asked, glancing towards the Doctor's latest girlfriend, who was indeed tall, blonde, and buxom, and standing somewhat uneasily in another corner. The EMH hadn't been dating her long enough for her to know many of the other party guests.

"Yes, Bettina does fit the mold," Icheb replied. "She has a nice singing voice, too."

"Does your mother sing, Icheb?" Farys asked.

"She has a very lovely singing voice. I wish she sang more." Icheb sighed. Maybe he should ask Axum if he knew how well she sang. She should be sharing that voice with someone.

"Oh, look. I knew the Fluidian Ambassador Boothby was here, but isn't that our Academy gardener speaking with him?" Austin asked, breaking Icheb's chain of thought.

"Why yes. I'm sure it is. Excuse me. I want to say hello." Icheb stood up and walked over to the twin Boothbys.

"Well, if it isn't one of the 'good ones' I was just speaking about, Ambassador," the more casually dressed Boothby remarked.

"Hello, sirs," Icheb said politely, extending his hand to shake each of theirs in turn. "I'm glad to see you here," Icheb said to the gardener.

"I was very pleased when Tom Paris extended the invitation. Quite a show. Not surprising, when you consider who the guests of honor are."

"They do make a lovely couple," the ambassador replied.

"Isn't Harry Kim at the party? I looked for him, but I don't see him."

"It's his father's birthday today. His mother planned a surprise birthday extravaganza for him this evening, so Harry couldn't be here."

The gardener tut-tutted. "Bad timing for him, I suspect. I remember commiserating with him on more than one occasion about how much he owed his parents, especially his mother - and the fact that she never let him forget about it, either. I enjoyed the discussion we had a few weeks ago, when you brought your mother Annika to visit my garden with Mr. Kim."

"I enjoyed it, too," Icheb said, smiling at the two. "It was quite a surprise to see the two of you conversing with each other that day."

"I thought I should get to know the person my manly form and figure were modeled upon," the ambassador said, as the original model snickered. "He's a very wise man, you know. Lots of experience."

"Yes, you've been at the Academy a very long time, haven't you, Mr. Boothby?"

"Oh, just Boothby to you, Icheb. Although I do see it might be a little difficult right now, since the ambassador here goes by that name, too. Yes, I've been here for several decades."

"I guess you may be planning to retire soon," Icheb said, then added, hastily, "but not until after I graduate, I hope!"

"No fear of that, young man. I don't plan on going anywhere in the next couple of years - if I can help it. Now, sometimes, I do like to 'take a bunk' and leave unexpectedly from wherever I'm living at the time. But I haven't any firm plans to leave at the moment."

The gardener glanced over at the ambassador. They both were smiling rather enigmatically, Icheb thought. Since he'd seen that expression on the faces of both Boothbys from time to time, he didn't think much more about it. Instead, he said to the gardener, "I'm glad to hear it."

"Come see me if you need to talk anytime, once your mother and her intended have left for their trip. Come to think of it, I suspect the ambassador will decide to look in on you every now and then as well."

"You have an open invitation to 'pick my brains' any time you wish, Icheb," the ambassador confirmed.

"I'm hearing that from everyone. Captains Janeway and Chakotay have both told me to come see them if I need to speak with someone. And Tom and B'Elanna, of course. I've gone to them sometimes even though Seven has been here for me. They've been my mentors for years now." Icheb looked around. The party was going strong, and he knew both Boothbys were likely to want to visit with others in attendance. "I guess I'd better get back to my friends now. It's been great speaking with you. Enjoy the party!"

"We will, Icheb. Say hello to Cadet Verit for me. I enjoyed our interactions when we were at the Rift. She's a very intelligent person," the ambassador said.

"She is. She's a good friend. I'll be sure to pass on your message. Good-bye for now."

Icheb walked away. Despite his enhanced hearing, there was so much going on around him, he didn't pick up on what the gardener had to say to the ambassador once Icheb had left.

"He doesn't know the full itinerary, does he?" the gardener said.

"Nope. It's better that way. I don't think anything is going to happen to interfere with Axum and Annika's plans, but it will be good to surprise him. As long as no one lets him in on the secret before they get back, that is. Everyone else seems to know! How did you find out? Kathryn?"

"Yes, she came to me again to discuss that promotion the Admiralty is dangling before her. Not that accepting it would matter much now, since everyone knows about her relationship with Chakotay. They wouldn't be in the same chain of command this time, with him teaching at the Academy and her at Starfleet Command. Just before she left, she told me about the 'precious cargo' she dropped off while passing through the Delta Quadrant. I think she's glad that a precious someone will be coming home, now that she doesn't have to worry about being the one to transport her all the way here!"

The ambassador laughed with the gardener and said, "She told me about that. She feels a little guilty now about leaving her behind. She had no idea they'd get home so soon afterwards at the time, of course. Kathryn wanted to protect her from the big, bad Delta Quadrant. She's been living with good people, at least. It will be hard on them to lose her, I should imagine."

"I'm sure it will be, but keeping them informed about what's happening here has prepared them for what was bound to come about eventually. That's why they recorded this gathering for them to see. Now they'll not only know what will happen, they'll know the 'when.' I look forward to meeting her. Maybe I'll even stick around long enough to see _her_ graduate from the Academy, if I'm spared that long."

"The way you're going, you really may live forever!"

"No chance of that," the gardener groaned. "My old bones won't last indefinitely. But for a while yet, I hope. I've got a lot of cadets to keep my eye on before I pass on the job to someone else. Any chance you'd be interested?"

The ambassador shook his head and laughed. "Let me get this alliance all ship-shape and working smoothly, the way we all expect it to, before I take on another job! But thanks for the offer. I'm flattered you think I'd be up to it!"

"I think you knew you'd be 'up to it' when you chose to look like me, back in the Delta Quadrant."

At that, they both laughed.

=/\=

After the party was over, Axum and his Annika added a postscript of their own to the message to be sent to Mezoti and her foster parents through the next datastream. If Mazani and Arebi hadn't already known it was coming, it would have been devastating news, mitigated only by the uttermost joy with which the youngest resident of their home received it.

=/\=


	80. On Wysanti

=/\=

 **Mezoti tried to contain her joy when she saw Seven walking up the path to the house. They had obtained visual contact once the ship had entered orbit, but it was not the same as being with her Seven, her flesh-and-blood-with-implants-Seven.**

 **"Seven! Axum!"**

 **Seven embraced Mezoti as soon as they were within arms' length of each other. After a prolonged period of hugging, much longer than the one they'd experienced just before Mezoti departed from** _ **Voyager**_ **, Seven stepped back and allowed Axum to take her place.**

 **Once Axum separated from Mezoti, he asked, "Now that we're finally together, I can find out how you knew who I was even before Annika introduced me to you in the datastream. I know you recognized me. Your foster parents told us you did."**

 **Hesitantly, as if unwilling to bring up the past, Seven asked, "Do you have memories of all the drones that were in the Collective when you were still Borg?"**

 **Mezoti could not hide a giggle, so much like the ones she remembered hearing from Naomi that the connection filled her with even more joy. "Of course not. I . . . " And then Mezoti stopped. She'd never admitted what she'd learned from mental images when Seven had grieved over never having a chance to meet Axum in person, which at that time she thought would be impossible.**

 **Sighing, she sent subvocally** _ **, :::When you were so upset about Axum, after Voyager helped the Unimatrix Zero drones break away from the Borg Queen, I 'overheard' your thoughts about him. So I knew what he looked like from your memories of your time with him there.:::**_

 _ **:::Mezoti! How could you do that?:::**_

 **Aloud, Mezoti responded, "Well, I didn't do it on purpose! I couldn't help it. Your thoughts were so loud back then! I tried to keep them out. Really, I did!"**

 **Mezoti caught a brief flash of subvocal communication exchanged between Seven and Axum, so soft, it was more like one person murmuring to another. Obviously, when she mentally shouted at Mezoti, Axum overheard Seven - or Annika, as he always thought of her - just like Mezoti always heard her brothers.**

 **While this was happening on the pathway in front of Arebi and Mazani's home, the twins and Mezoti's foster parents had gathered just inside the doorway. Mezoti could see the four of them looking on in befuddlement by the snatches of conversation they were able to hear. Azan and Rebi were apparently just as deaf to the subvocal part of the discussion as their grandparents were.**

 **Rather than continue the staring/glaring match going on outside, Mezoti waved towards the doorway. "Axum, allow me to introduce my foster parents and their grandsons, who were also rescued from the cube by Sev - I mean, Annika - with Icheb and me. Mazani is the female parent, and Arebi is the male. Azan is on the left, and Rebi is on the right. They're twins. I guess you could already see that," she added, feeling terribly awkward at everything she was saying and thinking - and hearing within her cortical node, because she felt the twinge of doubt from Seven when she spoke of the Wysanti couple as "parents."**

 _ **:::They have been very good to me, Seven. But I've been waiting for you to come for me for such a long time. Please, enter Their Home.:::**_ **She hoped the emphasis she'd placed on the last part of that thought would convey all she really felt about them to the person she had long recognized as her true mother.**

 **From the sudden glistening of moisture which suddenly appeared in Seven's right eye, Mezoti decided she did understand.**

 **=/\=**

 **"So you were** _ **always**_ **listening to the two of us?" Rebi asked, showing more real emotion towards Mezoti than she could ever remember. Azan glowered at her from where he sat, on the other side of the living room.**

 **"Well, if 'listening' means 'not being able to tune you out when you're shouting subvocally,' then, yes, most of the time. How can this be a surprise? Don't you remember me tattling on you when you were cheating at Kadis-kot, the first time we played it with Naomi on** _ **Voyager**_ **?" Mezoti was amazed they could be angry with her when they should have known why she almost always knew when they were doing something they shouldn't.**

 **Arebi had his hand hiding his mouth, but his dancing eyes gave him away. "So that's why you could always let us know when they were up to some sort of mischief?" His shoulders began to shake. She knew he was about to laugh out loud. although Mazani was sitting quietly, looking stunned.**

 **Mezoti sighed. This was the secret she'd carefully kept from her foster parents throughout her life on Wysanti. It was time to be completely honest about her abilities. "Sometimes I just heard them talking about things with my Borg-enhanced auditory capability. You've known about my hearing for a long time." Turning back to Azan and Rebi, she added, "And you two should have realized it, too! You have the same auditory abilities, don't you?"**

 **The twins exchanged guilty glances with one another. Of course they did. She'd known that from overhearing their thoughts, too; but she wasn't going to insist they admit it. She simply said, "Icheb thought my ability to communicate subvocally had developed much more completely while we were in our maturation chambers than his did. I don't** _ **try**_ **to overhear you. I just do. You know, you don't speak out loud often enough to anyone. You're always communicating like Borg - or maybe it's because you're twins. Whatever the reason is, you should be kinder to your grandparents and let them know what you're thinking sometimes! They're wonderful people, and they love you. And you love them, too. It would be nice for them to hear that from the two of you every now and then."**

 **Mazani arose from her seat on the squeaky lounge then. In three quick strides, she came over to Mezoti and hugged her, more fiercely than she'd ever held her in all the time Mezoti had lived there. The emotions of everyone in the room suddenly became painfully somber. Any hint of humor was banished by those three steps and the embrace that followed. Mezoti felt the twins crashing emotions as they realized the change that was coming to their family group. Up until now, they apparently hadn't thought about the ramifications of this visit from their guardian on** _ **Voyager**_ **. Now they understood.**

 **Finally Mazani managed to choke out, "I'm going to miss you so much, my girl! You've always reminded me of my Barini, but never more than today!" Turning her tear-streaked face to Seven, who'd taken to her feet and was standing next to the pair with a stricken look on her own, Mazani spoke directly to her. "I've known Mezoti belonged with you and her brother Icheb for almost as long as she's lived with us. You** _ **will**_ **take her with you, won't you? You're not going to break her heart and leave her here again?"**

 **"Of course I want to take her home, but only if Mezoti wishes to come with us. It must be her choice, as it was when she . . . decided to live with you." After this halting speech from Annika, Axum put his arm around her. Arebi stepped up to envelop Mazani and Mezoti within the circle of his own strong arms.**

 **For a long moment, Mezoti looked around her, aware of her foster parents' hold upon her, but reading again the wash of thoughts from Seven and Axum as well. They all truly loved her. Such a gift this was for the girl orphaned by the Borg, rejected by her own people because she reminded them of the fearsome Collective!**

 **Through eyes clouded with tears, like those she'd always tried to hold inside her whenever she was alone and lonely during the dark reaches of the night, regenerating in her cubicle, she glanced around the familiar living room. There was the lounge chair that squeaked just a little whenever someone sat down or stood up from it, so softly that only those with Borg-enhanced hearing were probably aware of it. Over there was the communications console where she had first seen the images of Neelix and his new family, and of their mutual friend Masseni, who'd helped them stay in touch until the Federation shared the Pathfinder and Project Watson technology which allowed them to see and speak with each other in real time. Through the window, she could see the trees tossed by the full summer's breezes. Beneath their waving branches lay her beloved ant colony, with its embedded sensors that permitted her to view their industrious, if brief, lives. It had all become so dear to her, just as these people had.**

 **But she knew her own mind now, better than she'd known it over two Federation years before. She'd let her fears overwhelm her attachment to her true family. "Oh, yes, I want to go with you, Seven. I'm going to miss everyone and everything here. I'm glad I was here to help the Borg who came to Wysanti when they needed medical help, after the Hive was destroyed. Maybe I was meant to be here to do that for them. I don't know. I love you, Mazani and Arebi. And you, too, Azan and Rebi - but I belong with Seven and Icheb. And with you, too, Axum?"**

 **"If you come with Seven, then you will also have a home with me, Mezoti," Axum agreed. His smile was very warm, Mezoti thought. He would be her father, just as Seven - or Annika - had always been her mother, even though Mezoti had once been too blind to see it. Mezoti allowed him to catch this thought, accepting him for what he would be to her.**

 **And then an array of visions burst rapidly into her mind, one after the other, images that could only have come from two in this room. Misty green, metallic constructs surrounding them as they tumbled out of maturation chambers and onto a wet floor, where Second and First came to help them stand and receive their first designations. Seven of Nine holding the smallest of them, little Six of Six, who had been forced out of her own chamber too soon to live outside without assistance, who disappeared into thin air at Seven's request. And then their own rescue, after they all sensed First's mental and physical termination, as their cube began to fall apart all around them. The holographic Doctor. Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay. Tuvok. Tom Paris, the medic who had been among the first to treat them as individuals worthy of respect, and B'Elanna, his love. Naomi. Harry Kim. Marla Gilmore, caring for little Six of Six, who now was called Aimee Gilmore. Neelix, telling them a story about a spirit 'haunting'** _ **Voyager's**_ **twelfth deck, who turned out to be a mysterious "gaseous anomaly" type of being, dwelling there while** _ **Voyager's**_ **crew searched for a new home nebula. Scenes from a play the children had presented to** _ **Voyager's**_ **crew about the incident, to help them overcome their fears after another brush with the Borg threatened their new-found individuality. A race, and a wedding, and then the discovery that the twin brothers had living relatives who wanted their grandsons to live with them. They'd offered to provide a home for the little Norcadi girl, too - one she'd accepted, but later, bitterly regretted.**

 **As those visions flashed between the three former "Borglets," Mezoti felt a connection with Azan and Rebi that had always been lacking, for as long as she'd known them. To their credit, they wordlessly acknowledged the fault had been theirs. They'd excluded her from their sibling group, not from malice, but simply because they had once, for a very few, prenatal days, been one person. They'd never fully realized they could let anyone else inside their personal family group. Although individuals, their minds still touched one another's as easily as the one which they called their own. They'd never sensed that other mind they'd shut out of their awareness, even though she was completely aware of their subvocal interactions. Now they could "hear" her, just as they were about to lose her.**

 **The images ceased when a deep voice reverberated in their enhanced auditory abilities: "You don't have to say good-bye to each other yet, you know," Axum said. "We aren't leaving today. Annika and I will be spending several days here. We want to get to know** _ **all**_ **of you."**

 **The spell was broken. Sorrowful feelings might still break out, but now, the comforting communication between the former Borg lifted the spirits of everyone in the room. Mazani even smiled through her tears and let go of Mezoti, who walked over to Azan and Rebi to be grasped by them in a brotherly group hug.**

 **In a soft voice, Seven told the three young ones, "The last time we spoke with Mezoti over subspace, when we left her here with you, she said she wished she could live here on Wysanti and remain on** _ **Voyager**_ **, too. Since she was only one person, she had to make a choice. Then, we didn't think we'd ever see each other again. Now, only two years after that parting, here we are. I'm sure we** _ **will**_ **all see each other again. We'll speak to each other often over Project Watson. This will not be a permanent good-bye."**

 **"It won't be the same though, will it?" Azan responded, a tinge of misery still in his voice.**

 **"No, of course it won't," his grandfather replied. "But life is never the same from day to day. Change is part of life. We'll just have to find a way to remain part of each other, even when it happens."**

 **"We're all be one family from now on, even when we're far apart," Mezoti added. As everyone around her murmured their agreement, the girl who had been cast adrift by the people of her birth realized she really did have a family now, with parents and grandparents and brothers who cared for her. Of course, one brother was currently far away from the rest of them; but she'd see Icheb in the flesh once again, and very soon.**

 **Mezoti felt her whole being suffuse with a happiness she'd never felt before. Her smile was radiant, despite the tears that flowed down her cheeks. As Seven told her later, while helping Mezoti pack for the journey back to the Alpha Quadrant on the Fluidian bioship, "I'd never seen you look like that before, Mezoti. I'm glad we're finally going home."**

=/\=


	81. Reunion

=/\=

When he received the message from Seven, informing him they'd returned from their trip, Icheb was off Earth, working with B'Elanna on Utopia Planitia. As soon as he went to her and explained that his mother had returned, B'Elanna thanked him for his service and released him, adding, "Now get yourself to Earth! You won't be any good to me up here if you're moping around about not seeing Seven and Axum!"

He didn't even take the time to drop off his baggage at the suite. Instead, he left it in a locker at the spaceport and transported himself to Seven's front walkway immediately. He knocked at the door, but it opened before his knuckles struck the wood for the second time. "I saw you materializing," Seven explained, as she enveloped her adopted son within her arms. Axum came through the kitchen door and hugged them both.

"I've missed you so much," Icheb admitted, gasping for breath. Axum's hugs could be extremely forceful.

"We've missed you, too, Icheb. You look well. You've survived our absence , I see." Axum replied, grinning broadly.

"I had a lot of friends to help me." In the brief silence that followed his answer to Axum, Icheb heard other voices. "Is someone else here? That sounds like Mrs. Yuhl's voice."

"Yes, she's here. She's interviewing someone." Seven's smile shone brightly. Axum was biting his lower lip, as if to cut off something he was longing to say.

And then Icheb recognized the second voice. Could Mezoti really be here?

He never knew, afterwards, if he'd called out to her. He didn't remember saying anything at all as he left the vestibule and approached the kitchen. All he could really be sure of was that he heard her voice saying his name as she rushed into his arms.

"Icheb, oh, Icheb, I've wanted to be with you for so long!"

When she was finally ready to let him go, he gently wiped the tears from his eyes and hers and asked, "You must have had your emotional inhibitor chip removed."

"I did," she replied. "I couldn't stop crying, so Mazani took me to the physician that had the records the Doctor sent with us. He said it was faulty and took it out. Oh, Icheb, I think that might be why I became so afraid of traveling on _Voyager_ with you."

"It's all right now. You're here! You're finally here! Let me look at you. You've grown up so much."

"I have," she said proudly, twirling around on her toes. "Not as much as Naomi has, judging from her messages to me, but I have grown up - a lot."

"But she's still young enough to need someone to take care of her," Mrs. Yuhl interpolated. "I don't doubt she'll have wonderful parents - and a brother who clearly loves her." The social worker wiped a tear or two from her own eyes as she placed her PADD inside her bag. "I think I have all I need for my report, Ms. Hansen and Axum. If I require anything more, I'll contact you. I'll leave you now to your happy family reunion." She shook hands with Axum and Seven, and then turned to Icheb. "It's good to see you looking so well, Icheb. I'm very happy about how this has turned out, especially for you. You deserve it. You all do, after what you've had to go through. I'll let you know when the court hearing will take place. You can be sure the recommendations in my report to the court will be just as favorable as the ones I made when I interviewed Icheb!"

Once Mrs. Yuhl had left, the family sat down around the kitchen table. Seven went to the replicator and prepared nutritional supplement snacks for all of them, even Axum, who had developed a taste for peanut butter-flavored shakes and the same kind of nacho chips Icheb loved. The emotions of the moment had left all of them feeling drained and more than a little hungry.

Once Mezoti had consumed almost half of her shake, she sighed and looked at Icheb with a pensive expression. "It's sad. I can't hear you 'underneath' like I used to. The Wysanti physician told me that from what he could see, my cortical node had formed completely. He said he thinks that's why I can communicate subvocally more efficiently than Azan and Rebi can. Their subvocal communication is very efficient with each other, but not so much with me, or any of the other Borg who came to Wysanti last year. I was glad when the physician removed my emotional inhibitor chip, but it was hard. I was able to cry and be passionate about what I love, but it made me miss you even more, once it was gone. I felt all my emotions so clearly. I'm not sorry now, but sometimes I was then."

Mezoti lightly touched the spot on Icheb's forehead where his cortical node used to be. Tears filled her eyes. "We'll never be able to speak subvocally anymore. I'm going to miss that."

"You'll get used to speaking out loud to me, just like you always did with Naomi, when we were on _Voyager_ together."

"I guess it's good I always liked to chatter with the crew, isn't it?"

"It is," Seven agreed. "And you'll still be able to speak 'underneath' to Axum and me. Eventually, you'll adapt to this way of communicating with Icheb. Often, when I speak with him, I'm reminded that he gave up the ability to speak subvocally for me. It was the price he paid to save my life."

"I'll try to think of it that way, too, then." Mezoti held out her hand to Icheb, who took it in his own and squeezed it lightly. Seven placed her left arm around Mezoti's shoulders, while Axum did the same to Icheb.

"How we communicate with each other doesn't really matter that much, as long as we do, right?" Axum said. "And what I want to speak of now has to do with planning a wedding."

"I'm so glad you came for me so I could be there with you," Mezoti said.

"We couldn't get married without our whole family with us!" Seven said this firmly, almost like she did when she was being especially drone-like on _Voyager_. This time, though, her smile was broad and the expression on her face softened with love, even if her voice rang out firmly.

"Yes, a wedding. It's time to gather your _Voyager_ family and our friends from the alliance before everyone is scattered so far apart we won't have any guests to share our wedding day with," Axum said.

"Finally! I'm glad we've finally gathered our family together, the way it always should be. We won't need to send a datastream transmission to Wysanti this time."

"But, yes, we will, Icheb," Mezoti said soberly. "We still have family on Wysanti. Azan, Rebi, Mazani, and Arebi. They deserve to be part of the wedding, too, even if they can't be here in person. I don't want to forget them, ever. They were very good to me."

"You're right. I didn't think," Icheb said, abashed. "I'm sure our Doctor Mark Zimmerman will be glad to use his imager to record the happy day for them. It will be good for him, too. I'm sure he'll need something to distract him from seeing Seven married to someone other than him."

While everyone chuckled at Icheb's observation, they also had to acknowledge its truth. The Doctor would finally have to accept that his desire for a passionate relationship with Seven of Nine was never meant to be.

=/\=


	82. Touring Voyager

=/\=

San Francisco weather can be iffy. September is a month in which the temperature and humidity generally are reasonably tolerable, but scheduling an outdoor wedding and reception for that month is a bit scary. As it turned out, on the appointed day the weather turned out to be beautiful, sunny and pleasant, but with high enough humidity so that the Fluidians among the guests would not feel particularly parched during the festivities. Of course, no one needed to worry about the humidity, nor the idiosyncratic weather of the Northern California coast. The wedding would not take place in San Francisco.

Since the groom was the Federation Council Representative from Accordia, a world in the process of being terraformed into a place where people who originated on many worlds in the galaxy might find a place to call home, and the bride was famous (one might even say infamous) because she was one of the crew of _Voyager_ , Seven and Axum knew they could not avoid intensive media coverage of the day. Starfleet Security could easily control the onslaught, however, if the ceremony and reception were held on _Voyager_ , which was currently in orbit around Earth and manned with a skeleton crew, with Lieutenant Commander Scott Rollins in charge of the conn and Lieutenant Tricia Jenkins as his second while Captain Janeway was on "extended leave" at Starfleet Command.

As Kathryn Janeway was still its captain of record, she would have the honor and privilege of officiating. Once the wedding festivities were over, Lieutenant Commander Thomas E. Paris, _Voyager's_ current (and final) Flight Controller, was to fly the vessel to its final resting place on the Presidio, where the newly married couple and their guests would disembark directly onto the planet's surface. _Voyager's_ last (as well as its first) captain had finally given in to the desires of the Admiralty. The wedding was the last " _Voyager_ Crew" function to take place on the soon-to-be retired vessel. The ship would be transformed into a museum honoring its epic journey through the Delta Quadrant, which introduced the Federation to the Fluidians, helped the Borg of Unimatrix Zero break free of the Borg Queen, and led to their Alliance with the Federation.

Holoemitters were already being installed throughout the ship so that significant events in its history could be displayed where they actually happened. Every person who had ever served on the ship or its Maquis counterpart, the _Val Jean_ , were to be portrayed, even those like Kurt Bandera and Veronica Stadi, who had been part of the crew for mere days or months before their lives were lost in the Delta Quadrant.

But first, one last celebration would mark the journey's end.

The day before the actual event, the wedding party transported up to _Voyager_ to rehearse the ceremony, followed by a traditional rehearsal dinner. Once the walk-through was over, but while everyone was waiting for the dinner to begin, Mezoti asked Captain Janeway," Do you mind if I tour the ship one last time? I know I'll be too busy tomorrow."

"Of course, Mezoti. Since I'm still the captain, I'll be your guide. We should ask permission from Seven so she knows where you are, don't you think?"

"I'm sure she'll say yes."

The captain's bemused smile graced her face. "I'm sure she will, too, but let's ask her anyway."

Their first stop was on the bridge, where Lieutenant Jenkins currently held the conn. After poking their heads into the captain's ready room and saying hello to Commander Rollins, the pair strolled through the conference room before taking the turbolift down to Deck 5, to visit Sickbay. No one was there when the doors opened, but as soon as they actually entered, the EMH on duty shimmered into existence. "Please state the nature of the medical . . . why Captain! Hello! There isn't anything the matter, is there?" Although the holographic physician's words oozed sympathy, the glitter in his eyes as he rapidly glanced from the captain to Mezoti and back suggested he was hoping something was wrong so he could perform his primary function.

"No, nothing's wrong. We're just visiting. My friend Mezoti hasn't been on the ship for a couple of years. We're taking a nostalgic pilgrimage of sorts through the ships tonight. You _do_ know about the wedding tomorrow?"

"Of course. Your Dr. Mark has provided me with a long list of appropriate analgesic preparations to combat any form of overindulgence which might affect the guests, catalogued according to species. As if I didn't know them all already . . ." He rolled his eyes and grimaced dramatically.

"You don't look like the Doctor I remember," Mezoti stated matter-of-factly.

"You're right. I'm not from the same series. I'm a Mark II."

"This is the version that was operational when our Doctor Mark Zimmerman traveled through the Hirogen Array to the _Prometheus_ ," Captain Janeway informed Mezoti.

"Yes, our programs saved that ship from the Romulans," he said proudly. "Unfortunately, that was too late to save the lives of its crew. However, that's when Starfleet found out _Voyager_ _hadn't_ been lost with all hands. You weren't on _Voyager_ then, were you, Miss Mezoti?"

"No, that was long before Icheb and I came on board. But we heard all about it from The Doctor. Dr. Mark, I mean." Mezoti turned away from him and walked slowly towards a particular biobed at one side of the room. She brushed her hand gently against its surface. "This was the biobed I sat on when Ensign Paris used his tricorder to examine me for the first time." She stepped away and approached a space near a bank of monitors. "This is where Six of Six was lying in a little biobed, after the Doctor treated her so she could breathe." As she returned to where the captain and the EMH were standing, she sighed. "It all looks the same in some ways, but it's different now, isn't it? Doctor . . . what should I call you? I can't call you Doctor Mark Zimmerman."

"You know, I've never had an actual name of my own. Maybe I should choose Dr. Lazarus. My program series had been declared obsolete by Starfleet, you see, as had the Mark III's. But after your Doctor came to the Alpha Quadrant and cured our mutual creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, he decided to upgrade our programs so we wouldn't all end up working on waste transfer barges or in irradiated mining colonies. Some other ships are equipped with II's like me, and others have Mark III's or IV's. Thanks to Dr. Mark, we're all improved versions, although none of us has been able to expand his programming as far as your Doctor's. Yet. Not that I'll admit that to him if he chooses to visit a ship-bound EMH program while he's on board."

"I'm sure he will at some point, Doctor. I predict he won't be able to keep away." The captain leaned over and stage-whispered, "You know how curious he is."

Mezoti giggled, and the EMH Mark II nodded sagely, "He is that. And he's not above lording it over his 'successors,' as he likes to call us, either."

"Will you be here if he visits after the ship lands?" Mezoti asked.

"As a matter of fact, I will. I'm to be a permanent member of the museum staff. You never know when someone might become injured or ill while visiting a museum. I'll be here to dispense first aid or even initial triage, should anything serious occur. One advantage I'll have which your EMH didn't have when he first was activated is the capability of going almost anywhere on the ship. Everywhere visitors have access will be equipped with holoemitters. Once Dr. Mark's mobile emitter can be produced en masse, of course, I won't need anything like that. I'll be footloose and fancy free myself!" The EMH looked like he was about to skip happily, but he pulled himself together before embarrassing himself.

"Well, we'd better be going, Mezoti. Thank you for this little visit, Doctor."

"Before you go, Captain, I have something I'd like to show you. Many of the exhibits will be available to view in Sickbay. Since holoemitters were available here, the programmers have already installed them. Mezoti, would you like to view one of these scenarios?"

"I'd like that, Doctor," Mezoti replied.

"Computer, display Exhibit Sickbay-53507 - begin at hour 1307."

The lights in Sickbay dimmed very slightly, to the level they were always set in order to conserve energy while the ship was traveling in the Delta Quadrant. At the surgical bay in the far end, an EMH Mark I was bent over a motionless form, with Ensign Wildman standing nearby to assist. Several other figures had materialized in the area of the bay which Mezoti had visited minutes before. A much younger version of the former Borg girl was perched on the biobed she'd just touched, while Seven of Nine, Icheb, Azan and Rebi stood close by. A crib-sized biobed had appeared where Mezoti had indicated it should be. The image of Ensign Paris was bent over Mezoti's hand, saying, "OK, Five, let's see how well your wrist tubules work." After a few seconds he smiled up at her. "Ah, good. Seven, we've gotten a good size sample from Five here. Your wrist tubules work about as well as Seven's and Second's do. I'd better be careful around you. You might accidentally stick me!"

Mezoti's image asked, ""Will you take samples from Six of Six, too?"

"We're going to let her gain strength before doing any more tests on the baby," the field medic holocharacter replied.

Mezoti, the captain, and the EMH watched and listened to the scenario play out for a few more minutes before Captain Janeway ordered, "Computer, freeze program. Mezoti, they'll need us in the Mess Hall for dinner very soon. We have to go now."

"Oh," Mezoti murmured. "But does this mean people will see me in the displays, too?"

"Of course, Mezoti. You were part of this crew. All the members of the crew will be seen in at least one of the exhibits."

"But Captain, I was never a member of _Voyager's_ crew. Not really."

"Neither was Naomi, but she's in a dozen exhibits, at the very least! You lived here during our journey. We couldn't leave you out, any more than we could little Aimee Gilmore."

Mezoti couldn't stop smiling as they said good-bye to the EMH and walked towards the turbolift. Eagerly, she asked, "Can we visit Cargo Bay Two before we go up to dinner?"

"Let me see if we have time." After checking with Tom Paris, who confirmed they were still at least fifteen minutes away from the serving of the first course, Captain Janeway acceded to Mezoti's request. They traveled down to Cargo Bay Two, not up to the Mess Hall.

=/\=

Captain Janeway led Mezoti into the cavernous storage compartment. Their steps literally echoed within the empty chamber. The only piece of equipment still in place was the computer console, on which Seven once checked Mezoti's information about where and when Icheb was captured by the Borg. She'd compared Mezoti's story with what Icheb's father Leucon had told her and discovered Leucon's had been a lie.

"It looks so different without anything in here," Mezoti said softly.

"All the regeneration cubicles are in use elsewhere. Everything else was cleared out to make it easier for the museum to display different events that occurred here. Holoemitters haven't been installed in here yet, but when they are, you'll see all of Neelix's storage boxes and the bank of regeneration cubicles you used when you lived on _Voyager_ , if you ask to see something that happened when you lived here."

Mezoti nodded her head and looked away from the captain, murmuring, "I dreamed of this place when I was on Wysanti. I missed it so much. Borg Central. Home."

Captain Janeway looked down at the decking beneath her feet. After a deep intake of breath, without looking up at the girl she was addressing, she quietly asked, "Mezoti, are you angry with me for encouraging you to stay on Wysanti with Azan and Rebi?"

Mezoti turned back to the captain and studied her closely as the captain raised her eyes to gaze at her again. Mezoti detected a degree of regret in the captain's voice, and for a second, she considered answering with an untruth. That would be unworthy of both of them, though. Only the truth would do. Mezoti glanced back towards the wall where the regeneration cubicles once were positioned. "Sometimes I was, Captain. After the emotional inhibitor chip was removed from my cortical node, and I wasn't so afraid, I understood how you influenced me into making the decision I did. I did get angry, but mostly I was . . . I was sad because of what I'd lost." She sighed and looked in the captain's direction again. "I know you did it because you thought children like me didn't belong on _Voyager_. You had to keep Naomi and Aimee, because they had mothers, and you knew Mazani and Arebi wanted me to stay with them, too, along with their grandsons. I didn't understand then - and I don't think Seven did, either - that I had a mother I loved on _Voyager_ , and a brother who was very hurt when I chose to leave. Did Icheb ever tell you I almost changed my mind. I almost decided to stay, even when we were in the transporter room and about to leave?"

The captain shook her head.

"Well, I almost did. Icheb and I were communicating subvocally after I told him he could come with us, and he said his home was here on _Voyager_. I was afraid I was making a mistake leaving even then. But if I didn't make that mistake, when the Borg Resistance survivors began to come to Wysanti for medical care, who would have told the planetary leaders what they were really asking? Azan and Rebi weren't . . . well, they didn't read Borg alphanumerics very well, and they were almost never around. They've grown up a lot and understand more than they did then, but I don't know if they could have helped the survivors the way I did."

"General Korok told me how much you did for his people."

"I was glad to help them. It made me feel better about where I was, but it's strange. I also understood that even though I wasn't totally Borg anymore, in some ways I always will be part Borg. And I needed to be with others like me. Does that make any sense?"

"It does, Mezoti." The captain took Mezoti's hands in hers. "I must confess, once we'd returned safely to the Alpha Quadrant, knowing I'd left you there bothered me tremendously. Bad things did happen to us on _Voyager_ during those last months, but I think you'd have been able to survive as long as you were with Seven and Icheb. And I could see how much Icheb missed you. My conscience bothered me a _lot_ , because I knew I'd caused him pain."

Mezoti lifted one eyebrow in unconscious imitation of her mother and her friend Cadet Verit. She said, "I'm sure you're going to make an even better admiral than you are a captain. You can be very persuasive. You know how to get people to do things they don't even realize they don't want to do. I've heard admirals have to do that all the time."

The captain chuckled, but her face still bore a very serious expression as she said, "As long as the people I sway have outcomes as happy as yours, Mezoti, I won't mind."

Before Mezoti could say more, the captain's combadge sounded, interrupting their conversation. _:::Captain, dinner is ready to be served. We can't start until the two of you are here.:::_

"Let Seven and Axum know we're on our way, Chakotay."

Mezoti groaned. "I was hoping we'd have a chance to visit Astrometrics and Engineering, too."

"We can resume our tour after dinner. Perhaps we can entice Seven and B'Elanna to come along to reminisce with us."

"I'd like that."

As they walked out of Borg Central, Mezoti was glad Captain Janeway had offered to take her on this tour. They'd said things they'd needed to say. Mezoti was happy to learn she would be remembered for her part in _Voyager's_ travels, too, courtesy of some of the museum's exhibits. At least one would show her in Borg Central. She could barely wait to see what moment or moments they would choose to show. Perhaps it would be totally dark, with a single battery-powered lamp lighting their faces, while Neelix told the story of the haunt on Deck 12. The "haunt" might even make a guest appearance. After all, he'd been a resident of _Voyager_ for several months. Surely he should be represented as part of the "crew," too.

=/\=


	83. A Long-Anticipated Event

=/\=

Holodeck One had been programmed as a grassy glade, overlooking two cliffs. On the left as one entered the holodeck, a broad vista of unspoiled countryside could be seen, highlighted by a tall waterfall, graced by doubled rainbows, courtesy of sunlight refracted through mists which flew upward as water spilled into a rocky pool below. Standing at the edge of the cliff on the right revealed the view of a tranquil bay, lined with a broad arc of sandy beaches and blue-green sea, fading into the horizon. No one had to fear that an investigation by an intrepid toddler such as Aimee Gilmore or Miral Torres Paris could result in a fall off either edge. It was a virtual landscape, after all, and Tom Paris had made certain the holodeck safeties were functioning and active.

This was a virtual landscape in another way, too, since it was an entirely imaginary one. The bride and groom, with assistance from General Korok and several other former drones who'd once been able to wander this "countryside," had worked with Commanders Paris and Barclay to recreate favorite vistas they remembered from their visits to this lost sanctuary of Borg who carried the Unimatrix Zero mutation in their genomes. While their bodies regenerated in cubicles on vessels which might be located anywhere within the Milky Way galaxy, their minds flew off to Unimatrix Zero to enjoy a fleeting taste of the lives they'd once had, even if they were never conscious of the trip once they awoke and became, once again, cogs in the machine that was the Borg Collective.

Most of the wedding guests were well known to the public. Thanks to previous Starfleet Publicity Office efforts, the entire crew were among the famous. A little family visiting Earth for the first time, but also quite well-known, was delighted to be included. Their home was in an asteroid belt located almost 30,000 light years from the central world of the Federation. General Korok's vessel had transported Ambassador Neelix, his wife Dexa, and their children Brax and Alixia to Earth. They'd arrived only days before the occasion was to take place. Before returning home to Talax II, Neelix would also receive his official credentials as Federation Ambassador to the Delta Quadrant. Many public interest stories had appeared in various publications, which pleased the ambassador. For his son Brax, the real attraction the opportunity to spend time with his friends Mezoti and Naomi in person, rather than only as "datastream pals." Dexa enjoyed the opportunity to chat and compare notes with Samantha Wildman on how quickly their youngest progeny were developing into engaging little persons in their own right.

While Axum's "family" consisted of the crew of his Borg sphere and others, such as Korok, with whom he had developed friendships, the Hansen and the McGinty families were well-represented. Commander Tuvok, his wife T'Pel, and their daughter Asil had traveled from Vulcan at Seven's special request to attend the happy event. Marla Gilmore and her daughter Aimee had been invited to come with Lieutenant Commander Harry Kim. Harry's mother had inquired if this meant he would be asking Ms. Gilmore to become Mrs. Kim. Harry carefully deflected the question, to his mother's dismay and his father's amusement.

Although Starfleet had sent a specialist to document the wedding for viewing once the museum was operational, Doctor Mark Zimmerman had his own imager in hand and was busily recording away, and for much the same reason as he had the engagement party. Although he was reconciled to the inescapable fact that Seven of Nine would never be his, it did help to keep busy at a time like this.

Icheb stood along the side of the cliff edge with his sister Mezoti and their friends Naomi, Brax, Verit, Farys, and Austin, while at the same time endeavoring to keep an eye on Miral Paris. Just because she couldn't be hurt by falling off the edge of the holographic cliff didn't mean she wouldn't try. In fact, she thought it was great fun to look over at her father and hold her foot over the edge, giggling, to see what he would do. Icheb had agreed to pull her back at least half the time, since Tom was getting a little winded from chasing his very athletic daughter around the glade. He had duties to perform as a member of the wedding party. It wouldn't do for him to be gasping for breath while he stood at Axum's side, handing the rings to the groom. B'Elanna was the "official" matron of honor, in part to get back at her for throwing her own wedding bouquet directly at Seven. Seven hadn't appreciated this at the time, although now she planned to throw her own bouquet, "as tradition demanded."

"Why aren't you the best man, Icheb?" Naomi asked, grabbing hold of Miral for him as the child ran towards the cliff's edge for the umpteenth time. No one had kept track of the exact number.

"I have my own role as a member of Seven's family, so it's okay." He smiled at his sister. "According to Ioronian tradition, Mezoti and I have to give away the bride, so to speak, like in the Earth tradition - except it goes for the bride or the groom in their culture. I thought it was nice for Axum to ask Tom to be best man, since B'Elanna is Seven's attendant."

"It's so sad he's the last Ioronian." Farys knew all about grieving for those you love. Two of her grandparents had been killed by the Cardassians during the Occupation of Bajor.

"But he's not! I forgot to tell you! When the Fluidians investigated the Ioronian's system when they were mapping that sector of space, they discovered a small group in a mining camp on the Northwest Continent. They'd managed to hide from the Borg like the Delta Quadrant's Sakari did. There's only a few dozen of them left though, which isn't a viable population to revive their race, and the ecological balance of the planet was totally ruined by the Borg. Food has been hard for them to find, and they've barely hung on. We only found out about them this week. They've asked to move to Accordia once the conditions will support them there. Axum said the former Borg have decided to offer other remnant populations that option, too. He's really glad not to be the very last one!"

Speculation about where other pockets of survivors might be found on worlds known to have been devastated by the Collective ended when Captain Chakotay called out, "We're ready to begin. Please, everyone, take your seats so that Miss Annika Hansen can walk down the aisle to become . . . Mrs. Annika Hansen."

A ripple of amusement spread through the crowd. Since Axum only had one name, he'd decided to assume his wife's surname of Hansen after the marriage. The Bajoran guests, like Farys, all lauded his choice, since that was their custom. As the guests sat down in the chairs provided, Naomi picked up Miral and sat between her parents and Neelix's family for the duration of the ceremony. Icheb and Mezoti moved to the holodeck entrance to meet their mother, who was waiting there with her Aunt Irene and B'Elanna. Seven's wedding garments were soft and billowy, the antithesis of the snugly-fitting outfits she'd always worn on _Voyager_ in the past.

Once all the guests were in place, Captain Janeway stepped beneath the arbor at one end of the holodeck. Axum and Tom took their places in front of her, on the right side of the arbor.

To the strains of Mendelssohn's Wedding March, played by Harry Kim on clarinet and Susan Nicoletti on oboe, Seven and her Aunt Irene strolled slowly down the aisle, followed by Icheb and Mezoti. B'Elanna, holding a bouquet of orchids Commander Tuvok brought from his greenhouse on Vulcan, was last down the aisle. Once the bride had reached Captain Janeway's position, the captain began, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony . . . " After she'd finished saying the words which had been recited at the beginning of weddings for many generations, a part of the groom's people's traditions was interpolated into the service. Captain Janeway said, "Icheb and Mezoti, you are children of the bride and have reached the age of knowledge. Will you accept Axum to be your co-parent?" After both said they did, the captain asked Aunt Irene if the Hansen family would accept him. Once Aunt Irene, as head of the family, agreed they would accept Axum as one of their number, the rest of the ceremony proceeded in a manner familiar to most of the guests in attendance.

The couple promised to love and cherish each other, in bad times and good times, and in sickness and in health. They exchanged rings to represent their love for one another. Axum gave Annika a special golden band. It split on a hinge, which allowed him to snap it in place over the Borg appliance on her left hand. Once the two halves touched, they fused together to form a single, never-ending circle, a token of his love. Although Axum had no appliance on his hand to interfere with the wearing of a ring, Annika had chosen a band for him which fastened itself in the same way. They would always share this reminder that they'd first met in Unimatrix Zero.

After Captain Janeway declared the pair "husband and wife," they shared a very gentle kiss, followed by a much longer, deep embrace. As Axum had explained at the end of the wedding rehearsal, smiling broadly when he demonstrated the moves with his very amused fiancée, "That's how we concluded the wedding ceremony on my home planet. "

As the glowing couple walked back down the aisle to the applause of their guests, Mezoti whispered to her brother, "So, which is the best wedding you've ever been to now, Icheb?"

Icheb had to admit sheepishly, "This one was even better than Tom and B'Elanna's. It's our family's wedding. I really like that Axum's traditions were included. He's a match for our Seven, isn't he?" To that, Mezoti had to agree.

=/\=

Although Mezoti had joked with Icheb about this being the "best wedding they'd ever been to," it was special to her. She'd gone to a marriage ceremony on Wysanti with her foster parents and the twins. That one had been a far more formal affair than either of the _Voyager_ weddings Mezoti had attended. The reception hall for that event had been huge, and it needed to be. More than five hundred wedding guests had been present. Less than two hundred guests were on board _Voyager_ for this one, and only a dozen were dignitaries associated with the Federation Council. As Captain Janeway had explained to Mezoti while they traveled on the turbolift to the rehearsal dinner the previous evening, this was, in essence, a family wedding, not a public event.

The reception was held on Holodeck Two, which Tom Paris and Reg Barclay had planned on programming to look like a very fancy catering hall in San Francisco. Instead, at the couple's request, they'd created a replica of _Voyager's_ Mess Hall, but expanded in size so that all of the guests could sit at tables without being crowded together. Two hundred guests simply wouldn't fit into the original on Deck 2. Luscious floral arrangements supplemented the room's decor. _Voyager_ was no longer plowing its way through the Delta Quadrant, when most decorations for its celebrations had to be replicated. The scent of real flowers was something Mezoti could truly appreciate, since she'd spent the last two years on the natural world of Wysanti.

Mezoti entered Holodeck Two right behind the Talaxian family. Neelix had offered to prepare some of his "Delta Quadrant specialties" for the reception in the Mess Hall kitchen. Seven and Axum thanked Neelix, but assured him they wanted him to enjoy the party as a guest. The meal had been planned in advance and catered by establishments on Earth, with entrées such as Jumbalaya from Sisko's in New Orleans and _hesperat_ from Tom and B'Elanna's favorite Bajoran restaurant in San Francisco. Korok expressed delight when he learned Seven had remembered to include _gagh_ and Blood Wine from a Klingon café in Sausalito.

After touring the holoprogram's kitchen, which had been reproduced accurately to the last millimeter to the one in the real Mess Hall, Neelix admitted to Dexa, "It's hard for me to believe I prepared almost seven years of meals for the entire crew in a space this tiny."

"And a fine job you did, too," Tom said, as he approached the couple with Miral squirming in his arms, trying to get to Alixia, who was in Neelix's. "We found out just how much we'd learned to enjoy your food when Chell took over at the end of the trip." Leaning down and whispering so he wouldn't be heard by anyone other than the Talaxians (and Mezoti, since he was unaware of just how sharp her hearing was), Tom said, "We're lucky we arrived home so quickly after you left us, Neelix. Chell was a good cook, but he wasn't you."

Neelix was so very pleased by Tom's remark, Mezoti refrained from asking Tom if he really meant what he'd just said. From Mezoti's recollection of the food Neelix had served, Chell's couldn't have been any worse.

Although the meals in the actual Mess Hall were served buffet style, a bevy of holographic waiters circulated the tables, bringing the selections chosen to each of the guests. During the lull between the soup and salad courses and the entrée, Naomi slipped next to Mezoti into Icheb's seat, which he'd vacated to visit the table where his suitemates were sitting. "Have you heard the story my dad's telling everyone?"

"What story?"

"When I offered to introduce Neelix and Axum at my parents' party welcoming Neelix's family to Earth."

"I was there, remember? I heard what they said. I thought it was funny."

The Wildmans had hosted a little gathering at their home to welcome the Talaxian family to Earth. When Annika and Axum arrived, Naomi offered to introduce Neelix's family to Axum. Axum told Naomi they'd already met. "We stopped at Talax II on our way back from Wysanti. Contacting the Talaxians was part of our diplomatic mission. When we arrived, Neelix said, 'So you're Axum! Wonderful to finally meet you. Seven was so sad when she found out you were on a ship far away, among the stars of the galactic fringe in the Beta Quadrant! She thought she'd never get a chance to be with you in the flesh, so to speak.'

"I was surprised Annika would talk about me to Neelix and told him so. And Neelix replied, 'Oh, she didn't. But Mezoti told Naomi, and Naomi told me why Seven was looking so disheartened, because she was moping around for such a long time after that Unimatrix Zero action. Naomi's my goddaughter, so she always told me about everything that was going on with the people she knew. There's a reason Naomi always talked about _Voyager_ being a small ship. She's the one who made it that way!'"

"But that's true, isn't it?" Mezoti said, laughing.

Naomi grimaced, replying ruefully even though she was chuckling. "I may have helped to spread the news around the 'small ship' _Voyager_ , but I wasn't the only one. My mom said the 'rumor mill' was in full swing long before I was even born!"

=/\=

After the entree, but before the wedding cake and the throwing of Annika's bouquet, the two girls visited many of their friends. When the Doctor approached, flashing his imager, they cooperated by sending greetings to Mazani, Arebi, Azan, and Rebi. "Naomi is already in the Freshman Class of the Academy, and she's only seven and a half years old!" Mezoti said. "But she looks like a cadet now. She's so tall! I miss all of you. I hope you can visit soon, too, like Neelix's family has. Just let General Korok know. I'm sure he'll find a way to bring you all here."

Towards the end of the night, after Captain Janeway caught Annika's bouquet (or rather, caught the floral missile Annika had launched right at her), Mezoti and Naomi approached the table where she was sitting with Chakotay. Mezoti asked them, "Does this mean the two of you will be getting married now, too?"

"Has Naomi been telling you that?" Chakotay replied, while Naomi slumped a little due to acute mortification.

"No, it was Icheb. He told me everyone expects it."

"He must be eager to get me paired off, too, now that your mother is married to Axum," Chakotay laughed, even though Janeway was poking him in the side with her elbow while laughing herself.

Mezoti thought a moment before saying, in her straightforward way, "I think he wants you to be happy. He likes you a lot, you know. He told me he always thought you were better with Captain Janeway, and now that she's going to be a Rear Admiral Janeway at Starfleet Command and you're a teacher at the Academy, there won't be any protocols to stop you from getting married."

Naomi stepped away, groaning painfully.

Captain Janeway took pity on the first-year cadet. "Relax, Naomi. I'm not sure I'll ever marry anyone, but I guess it's safer never to say never."

"But you're together, whether you're married or not," Mezoti said confidently.

Instead of responding to this, Chakotay changed the subject. "Do you think you'll go to the Academy someday, too, Mezoti, like your friend Naomi, here? "

"I probably will, but Admiral Paris told me I should explore all my options before committing. I think he doesn't want to be too pushy, like he was with Tom. He told Seven he's never seen anyone more prepared to be a cadet at my age than me. Except for Naomi, of course. But that's to be expected, since she's half Ktarian and has grown up so quickly. Not that anyone really knows how old I am."

"Shall we go over to your brother and visit with his suitemates?" Naomi said, a little desperately. "I think I saw Icheb signaling us to come over to where they're sitting."

"Is it the company of the cadets you're interested in, or Icheb's?" Mezoti said archly.

"Go, go!" Captain Janeway ordered. "Visit your friends. Don't waste your time on old people like us."

Their welcome at the captains' table clearly exhausted, Naomi and Mezoti said their good-byes and walked towards the table where Icheb and his friends were sitting. As they walked away from the two captains, however, Mezoti heard Chakotay say, "Out of the mouths of babes, Kathryn." Mezoti glanced back at them and saw him put his arm around her, very gently. Captain Janeway settled back, looking very comfortable.

Icheb was right, she decided. They did belong together.

=/\=

The party went on for quite a while. No one was very eager for it to end, because when it did, _Voyager_ would leave orbit and touch down - permanently - on Earth. Many of the guests were eager to catch up and share what they were up to now with their crewmates; others preferred to reminisce about life on _Voyager_ , at a time when weddings were virtually unimaginable. Only Tom and B'Elanna had actually managed one, but not until the seventh year of the journey. Tabor and Jor maintained they would have wed if the trip had lasted much longer, since they were married within days of _Voyager's_ return to the Alpha Quadrant.

Eventually, even the happiest occasions must end. As the party began to wind down, Naomi asked her parents for permission to go to the bridge to watch _Voyager's_ final approach to Earth. When Mezoti asked Axum and Seven if she could go, too, Seven said, "We'd like to be there, too." At a nod from his captain and her always-supportive "first officer," all the senior officers left the reception. Axum, Icheb, Mezoti and Naomi slipped out after them. When they arrived on Deck 1, they took positions around the bridge as Commander Rollins ceded the command chair to Captain Janeway.

Tom guided _Voyager_ out of orbit. With his steady hand at the helm, the ship glided gracefully for a final pass over Earth, skimming above its continents and oceans one last time before Tom settled the vessel onto the green grass of the Presidio. The ship's exit ramp was lowered to the ground. The wedding guests, who had been alerted that the festivities had come to a close, slowly walked down the ramp into the cool San Francisco night.

Janeway turned the conn back over to Commander Rollins, who had volunteered to stay on board with a skeleton staff until clean-up crews had cleared away the party debris. The next day, _Voyager's_ days as a vessel assigned to explore new worlds and scientific phenomenon would be officially over. The work crews assigned after that would be museum curators, who would finish the transformation of the ship into the " _Voyager_ Museum of Space Exploration."

As she approached the ramp to leave _Voyager_ for the final time while it was still a commissioned Starfleet vessel, Mezoti was aware she'd taken part in an epic journey, even though she'd only been on board for a short part of it. There was much about its history she still needed to learn, especially concerning the pivotal role Captain Janeway and her crew had played in bringing about the alliance which, everyone hoped, would help maintain peace in the galaxy for a long time to come. One thing Mezoti did know, however. Her presence at this moment, when _Voyager's_ epic journey had truly come to an end, was a privilege afforded to very few. Only two hundred wedding guests and a handful of additional crew who had handled the ship's operations during this day could ever boast they'd been here.

As she was walking with Naomi and Icheb down the ramp, right in front of Chakotay and Captain Janeway, Mezoti heard her sigh sadly, "I'm sure you really will be able to see Alcatraz from here - on a clear day."

Naomi continued walking down without hesitation. Perhaps Naomi hadn't heard what Kathryn Janeway had said, but Mezoti knew Icheb must have, because he stepped awkwardly and stumbled against her. He never did that in the normal course of things.

Mezoti glanced at her brother's face. He was biting his lower lip. Clearly, he had heard, and what the captain said must have some meaning for him. Although he was no longer capable of communicating with her subvocally, from his expression, Mezoti could tell it must be connected to a memory that was, to some degree, a painful one.

Now was not the time to ask him for clarification. It didn't matter. She'd get him to tell her about it eventually. She knew he would confide in her. After all, they were family.

=/\=


	84. Epilogues: Commencement and Notes

_Stardate 57547.1 Personal Log Entry, Ensign Icheb Hansen_

 _Yesterday I was Fourth Year Cadet Icheb Hansen. Today I am a commissioned officer in Starfleet, bearing the rank of ensign. After my post-Academy leave is over, I will report to the USS Hawking, a science vessel which will travel through Fluidic Space to reach an area of the Beta Quadrant that Federation vessels have yet to penetrate. Our ship will be part of an Alliance task force consisting of a bioship, two former Borg spheres, and three Starfleet vessels. We are to accumulate data about several astronomical phenomenon which have not previously been investigated or described by the Federation. In addition, we will be searching for any remnant populations - known as BIS, or Borg Incursion Survivors, in current day Starfleet parlance - which require supports from the Alliance in order to survive._

 _I'm excited, but nervous, too. Captain Radgen said he was pleased when he heard the valedictorian of the graduating class of 2380 had been assigned to the Hawking. I certainly have lots of experience in space working under Starfleet regulations. I'm no longer an adolescent rescued from the Borg, nor am I an Academy cadet. I will be second in command of the Astrometrics lab of the Hawking. It's going to be_ _ **real**_ _now._

 _This afternoon, when I was sitting on the platform waiting to give my valedictory address, I couldn't help but think of that other Icheb. He'd never delivered his speech because he never attended the Academy in person. He'd graduated while still traveling on his Voyager and died only a few years later, sacrificing himself to protect his crew from the Borg Collective. I'm not him. I don't know if I'm fated to die on this first assignment. I don't really believe that will be my destiny. I suspect I've fulfilled more than one "Icheb destiny" in my life already; but I'm prepared to give up my life if I must. At the party my parents hosted for me, after the commencement ceremony was over, Commander Paris said, in that way he has of expressing himself that makes him such a good mentor for me, "That's a risk anyone who enters Starfleet must accept. It's part of the whole package." It could happen, of course, but since my life has already diverged from that other Icheb's in so many ways, I think it's unlikely._

 _I guess the one way I would like to be like him is for others to say I was an outstanding officer, as his Admiral Janeway said of him. I'd be proud to serve under any Admiral Kathryn Janeway there is, in any timeline, even with her "flaws and all." She insisted she had many when I mentioned this to her at my party. She does have flaws, of course. Everyone does. One reason the Borg Collective disintegrated was because the Borg Queen never could accept that perfection was unattainable. And I'm glad, because I know I'm not perfect either. Our flaws are part of what we are. They make us unique, just as much as our noble qualities do._

 _My speech was pretty typical of the breed, I suppose. I tried to keep it from being boring, but I know I dragged out the usual exhortations. "Use all you learned at the Academy to make life better for everyone in the Federation," etc. I thanked my family, which is also very traditional, but that's when my speech became, well, mine. I said my family had been formed through adoption rather than birth; our ties came about not by chance but by the choices we made and the love that helped us make them. We all once were enslaved by the Borg Collective. Though we're now individuals and citizens of the Federation, we're still in a collective, but of the type Seven described to me years ago when she said she was part of the "Voyager Collective." Working together to achieve prosperity and a peaceful life is our right as well as our duty. Whether it's within the unit of family or as part of the greater society of the Federation, we'e better together than we are apart. When we remember that, we're stronger than our enemies._

 _I thanked all of those with whom I served on Voyager, who first offered sanctuary, then friendship, and finally membership into their starship family. I thanked my fellow cadets and teachers at the Academy, Starfleet, and indeed, the Federation as a whole, for accepting a native of the Delta Quadrant and former Borg into the ranks of Starfleet officers._

 _I ended it by saying, "It's time for every member of the Class of 2380 to journey out into space, searching out strange new worlds and civilizations, to boldly go where no one else has ever gone before. It's our destiny."_

 _My friends and family all said it was a good speech. Of course, they were going to say that even if my speech was terrible, because they love me. I think it was a little wordy, but I've delivered it; it's over and done with; and I received enough polite applause to believe it wasn't a total disaster._

 _I was able to relax when Verit followed me and gave her speech as class Salutatorian. While listening to her, I looked out over the audience, searching through the ranks of undergraduate cadets, until I found Naomi Wildman. She's_ _ **not**_ _a little girl anymore. She's beautiful. I don't know if we'll ever become attached in the way our counterparts were in that other timeline. Since life in Starfleet can be dangerous, death could part us, too, if we should become a couple. Naomi doesn't know about that eradicated history, and I don't plan on ever telling her. It will all be different now, just as my family's life differs from that other Seven of Nine's._

 _Verit's speech was almost finished when I noticed another familiar figure, sitting several rows behind Naomi's class. He was dressed in a Starfleet commander's uniform (naturally), although he's nowhere near the right age for that. Obviously, Quinton couldn't bear to miss my graduation. I had to keep myself from snorting when I caught sight of him. I must admit, my experiences with the Q contributed to my education. I was happy to see him there today._

 _After the ceremony, Verit and I went to meet our loved ones. It wasn't a surprise to see my family there, of course, but having Torin present was wonderful. He arrived from the Gamma Quadrant just two days ago. When he walked into our suite, Verit couldn't maintain her Vulcan façade, her eyes were sparkling so. I'm happy for them, and for Farys and Austin, too. We all promised to stay in touch. The vagaries of Starfleet assignments will control that more than we'd like, I suspect._

 _Both Boothbys were there. The ambassador was a special guest of the Academy superintendent, I understand; but the gardener doesn't always bother to show up at commencements. This time he told me he had to attend, because I was "one of the good ones." Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay attended the ceremony, too. Once I'd spent a little time receiving congratulations from my family, I found them so I could salute them. Admiral Janeway said to me, "At ease, Ensign. You might sprain something." From the way she looked at Tom and Harry, who were standing nearby and snorting with laughter, I knew I'd like to hear their story about that. Back at the house, where we were having a "small celebration" courtesy of my parents, Harry told me that's what Captain Janeway said to him when he snapped to attention a little too stiffly, the first time he reported to her on Voyager. I didn't think I was standing_ _ **that**_ _stiffly, but considering how excited I was by the entire event, I guess I'm not the best judge of that._

 _I had a great time with my family and friends at my graduation party, which was a picnic our back yard at our house near the Academy. Towards the end of the evening, Tom proposed a toast. I expected a rather long, anecdote-filled speech, full of his usual witty remarks, but all he said was, "To the journey." He'd told me once that that's what they'd said on Voyager, when they were deciding whether or not to go through the Hub. This time it was for my journey - and maybe for Mezoti's, too. She's decided she will apply to enter the Academy, too. She'll do great, because she always does, whenever she decides to do something._

 _It looks like both of us will live our lives in space. That's her destiny, as it is mine._

 _I've already fulfilled my destiny in ways, of course. The "gift" my parents gave me, which should have been the curse that ended my life, became the means by which the galaxy was freed, for the foreseeable future (and hopefully, forever) from the threat of the Borg Collective. Because she wanted acceptance from a family, Mezoti made the choice to leave Seven and me that she later bitterly regretted. Although it once seemed she'd never live with us again, she's here with us now. By making that choice to leave, however, she was in a position to help the damaged Borg who came to the planet where she was, who needed her intelligence and compassion to survive. Both of us know what it's like to be rejected by people who should care for you, but strangely enough, thanks to the Borg, we were destined to be love and be loved as members of the same family._

 _And that's the best destiny of all._

 **=/\=**

 **The End**

Afterward/Notes

I really loved the concept of the "Borglets" when they were introduced in the ST:Voyager episode "Collective." The ones who charmed me the most were Icheb and Mezoti. I was _extremely_ miffed when Mezoti left _Voyager_ in "Imperfection." While the twins' leaving didn't seem that much of a loss, considering how little they were given to do, Marley McClean was a breath of fresh air whenever we saw her on screen. And Mezoti had said she never wanted to leave _Voyager_ during the events of "Child's Play." Why did she decide to leave? Why did the producers let her go? I wrote "I, Mezoti" to try to understand it, but it still seemed wrong for her to be separated from Seven and Icheb forever.

Manu Intiraymi's portrayal of Icheb was quite subtle, whenever we got the chance to actually see him act it out. While he was a major player in "Imperfection" and "Q2," the only time he appears in "Endgame" is when Icheb beat Tim Russ' Tuvok in the Kal-toh match, showing that the Vulcan officer wasn't well before subsequent events explained what was happening to him. When I wrote a long-planned project depicting Tom Paris' view of _Voyager's,_ which included events that "happened" during the year following the ship's return, Icheb showed up quite often. I decided I'd write the part of the journey Icheb experienced from his point of view, portraying his life from the time he first awoke on the Borg cube until his graduation from the Academy. Most of the events in "Chief Helmsman of Voyager: The Personal Logs of Thomas Paris" would serve as the template for Icheb's story.

It didn't take long for me to realize how massive an undertaking this would turn out to be. There was a natural breaking point, however, right after Mezoti and the twins leave _Voyager._ When Icheb donates his cortical node to save Seven's life in "Imperfection," I found "Icheb" could end there. But I still wanted to show how he adjusted to life in the Alpha Quadrant. I also wanted to tell Mezoti's story in greater detail. Once she was safe on a planet, did she have regrets? Or did she finally "adapt" to life with the Wysanti?

"Icheb" was posted as one story, with "Destiny" serving as its sequel. They're really Book One and Book Two of the same work. I've followed the series canon as closely as I could, but with a few deviations (usually inadvertently, because of lapses in memory). I've ignored the follow-up books because they're not canon to me. I've also interpolated characters and events from my earlier fanfiction writings when they don't clash too badly with what we saw on the screen.

In writing this tale, I came to terms with Mezoti's leaving _Voyager_. Much as I hated for it to happen, her departure was necessary for the plot of "Imperfection" to work. When Icheb disconnected his node to force Seven to accept it, their lives were very much in danger. I'm sure the producers couldn't deal with the "what ifs" that would happen with Mezoti if Seven and Icheb both had died and she'd remained on board. I don't think they had enough time in one episode to explore the issue as fully as it deserved.

All of the seventh season episodes are addressed between "Icheb" and "Destiny," but a few only warrant a brief mention. Others were so critical to the development of the character, I had to go into considerable detail, whether Icheb appeared in the episode or not. I needed to tell what happened to him even though we didn't see him on Quarra. His memories must have been distorted like the rest of the crew's. And, while it was clear to _me_ where Admiral Janeway obtained the means to destroy the Borg Queen in "Endgame," I wanted to remove all doubt by showing Icheb developing the weapon. In some ways, it's better for me they _didn't_ show what happened to everyone after "Endgame" ended. I had more freedom to give the characters the outcomes I preferred.

My imagination couldn't have come up with a story like this without the work of the series producers and episode story and scriptwriters. I'd like to give credit to them below, because without them, there is no "Icheb/Destiny" story for me to share. I'm so thankful for the entire creative team of Star Trek: Voyager. I had the privilege of visiting the set, thanks to Tex, my Paris/Torres co-writer and friend, who won a tour in an auction at a convention in Pasadena at the time filming on the show was wrapping up. We spent over an hour visiting with make-up artist Michael Westmore alone. What he showed us was truly fascinating. I know there were dozens of other behind-the-scenes crew whose talents created the series I enjoyed so much (as well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, ST: Deep Space Nine, and ST: Enterprise). Thanks to every craft person who contributed to these shows.

While much of Icheb's and Mezoti's personal "histories" came from my imagination, the episodes presented in the seventh season provided most of the structure of Icheb's story. I filled in gaps (a.k.a. "plot holes"), explained away inconsistencies, and fleshed out what Icheb was doing when we didn't see him on screen. I referred back to some earlier season episodes occasionally, and I used actual dialog from them when Icheb was there to say it or heard it from another character. While additional writers were credited with their work in my notes for "Icheb," a list of names of everyone who contributed to every episode would be overwhelming. Let me acknowledge and thank all the writers for the entire series. I'm very grateful for their work. The writers/co-creators for the seventh season episodes, which form much of this story, are as follows:

"Critical Care": Story by Kenneth Biller & Robert Doherty, Teleplay by James Kahn.

"Inside Man": Written by Robert Doherty.

"Body and Soul": Teleplay by Eric Morris and Phyllis Strong & Mike Sussman, Story by Michael Taylor.

"Nightingale": Story by Robert Lederman & Dave Long, Teleplay by Andre Bormanis.

"Flesh and Blood, Part I": Story by Jack Monaco and Bryan Fuller & Raf Green, Teleplay by Bryan Fuller.

"Flesh and Blood, Part II": Story by Bryan Fuller & Raf Green, Teleplay by Raf Green & Kenneth Biller.

"Shattered": Teleplay by Michael Taylor, Story by Michael Sussman & Michael Taylor.

"Lineage": Written by James Kahn.

"Repentance": Teleplay by Robert Doherty, Story by Mike Sussman & Robert Doherty.

"Prophecy": Story by Larry Nemecek & J. Kelley Burke and Raf Green & Kenneth Biller, Teleplay by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong.

"The Void": Story by Raf Green & Kenneth Biller, Teleplay by Raf Green & James Kahn.

"Workforce, Parts I & II": Both written by Kenneth Biller & Bryan Fuller.

"Human Error": Story by Andre Bormanis & Kenneth Biller, Teleplay by Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis.

"Q2": Teleplay by Robert Doherty, Story by Kenneth Biller.

"Author, Author": Story by Brannon Braga, Teleplay by Phyllis Strong & Mike Sussman.

"Friendship One": Written by Michael Taylor & Bryan Fuller.

"Homestead": Written by Raf Green.

"Renaissance Man": Teleplay by Phyllis Strong & Mike Sussman, Story by Andrew Shepard Price & Mark Gaberman.

"Endgame Parts I & II": Teleplays by Kenneth Biller & Robert Doherty, Stories by Rick Berman & Kenneth Biller & Brannon Braga.

(The "diplomat" comments by Quinton were prompted by the fact that Keegan de Lancie, who played Q Junior, was a Fulbright scholar who's worked for the U.S. Foreign service. I couldn't resist the allusion)

=/\=

I have to thank Jim Wright for most of the episodes' very detailed synopses, which appear on his Delta Blues website. They're often as complete as the scripts must have been. Several of the seventh season reviews remain "Under Construction," however, including "Workplace I & II" and "Flesh and Blood I & II." I had to spend a LOT of time recording the dialog and describing the action for myself for those episodes so that Icheb could learn about what happened and relay them in his own way. Jim, if you ever read this, you have my UNDYING gratitude for all of your complete reviews, since I know a little of what you had to go through each week when the show was airing!

Thanks to Tex, again, for providing details about the traditional Thanksgiving dinners served up by her Texas grandmother. I hope she'd approve of how I wove what you told me into this tale.

And, last, but certainly not least, I must add the essential disclaimer which must appear in any fanfiction work: The world of Star Trek: Voyager and all of Star Trek doesn't belong to me. Gene Roddenberry and his staff came up with the original concept over 50 years ago, and Paramount currently holds the copyright, shared with CBS. I make no claims of ownership of any of the characters or scenarios as presented by those I've just cited above, or the writers of any other seasons of the show and its predecessors and descendants. I won't make a dime from this epic, so there's no point in suing me. These characters haven't had a chance to stretch their wings and tell a new story on screen for 17 years. I'm sure they don't mind having fanfiction writers giving them a chance get out to have some fun every now and then.

I also must thank those who took the time to review this work as it was being written on fanfiction dot net. Their comments helped tremendously in the shaping of this story. Special thanks to: Six of Twelve (especially for suggesting Mezoti and Brax should become pen pals), tmtcltb, TLWtlw, Juddysbuddy, Beth6787, and TrekDr. Your encouragement kept me writing because I knew somebody out there was reading and liking what I wrote.

A billion thanks to all of you!

Jamelia116

July 2018


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